Warriors: The Bane of ShadowClan
by Laurelstar of WindClan
Summary: Foxstar has run a tyranny of ShadowClan, abusing his leadership. The dicator picks off the weak kits and leaves them out to die on the treacherous Thunderpath. ShadowClan has turned into a cowardly and fearful Clan. Two kits are born into ShadowClan under Foxstar's rule. Two cats. Two destinies. One prophecy. I don't own Warriors or the pic!
1. Prologue

"You wanted to talk to me, Foxblaze?" a black-and-white tom asked, approaching a russet furred tom, who was standing alone in the middle of a forest. The rain pelted down on them hard, thudding on the forest floor.

"Yes, I believe Mintpaw brought you the message?" the russet furred tom asked, rather quietly.

"He did," the black-and-white tom replied. They walked along the forest, listening to the angry pitter patter of the rain.

The two continued in silence, the russet furred tom, Foxblaze, leading the way. He walked up the path, leading the black-and-white tom farther and farther up.

"Where are we going?" asked the black-and-white tom.

"You'll see, Thistlestar," Foxblaze meowed softly, the tone of his voice making Thistlestar's fur spike with trepidation. The russet tom had always spoke in that tone, and it sent shivers down Thistlestar's spine, though he never admitted it.

Finally, they arrived at a desolate part of the forest. They were on a Twoleg built bridge, with the creek rushing loudly just a few tail-lengths below, the raindrops splashing into the water.

"You were going to say?" asked Thistlestar impatiently.

"I want to talk," Foxblaze said, still in that soft tone, "about our positions."

"Positions?"

"You see, I am a warrior, and you, a leader," Foxblaze meowed, his tail waving back and forth.

Thistlestar couldn't see where this was going, but he nodded slowly. "Go on."

"Well, you know my brother, Aspenheart. I remember, back in my days, I was better than him."

"That's a statement of opinion," Thistlestar meowed, getting a cold chill down his back that had nothing to do with the weather. "I happen to think Aspenheart is better."

"Well, I beg to differ," Foxblaze replied, tilting his head. "I tried my best to be the best, I know you knew I was, yet you chose Aspenheart as deputy, a rather risky choice, knowing my reaction to that?"

"I don't think so," growled Thistlestar, "Aspenheart is a better cat in all the fields of the warrior code, not just in fighting! The choice I made wasn't risky to me at all—"

The statement was cut off by a single quick swipe. Foxblaze was standing over Thistlestar's limp body, the black-and-white tom's throat slashed open in a bright red gash. Blood welled over Foxblaze's paws and over the bridge, spilling into the creek.

Foxblaze snarled, his fiery amber eyes gleaming with malice. He leaned close to the dead tom's body, and whispered:

"Take no chances."


	2. The Horrible Truth

Flintkit felt himself lifted up by the scruff.

_Hey! Stop! I was so comfortable and warm next to Silverbriar! Why are you doing this to me?_ He couldn't see, his eyes were still closed.

"Please, you can't take him," Silverbriar begged.

_Take me where?_

"Relax," said a muffled voice Flintkit didn't recognize. It was soft but warning. "If he makes it back, then we'll take him in."

"I doubt it," said another voice close by, "he's so small."

_Hey!_

"That doesn't mean he doesn't have a chance," Silverbriar replied, her voice shaking.

_Don't worry, Silverbriar, I'll make it… whatever it is._

Flintkit opened his eyes. Where was he? This place smelled nothing like the nursery, but the opposite. It was stinky, nasty, and just plain disgusting!

Slowly, he stood up and looked around. He was lying in the middle of a huge black path, and a huge…thing was coming his way. It had glowing yellow eyes and rather quick feet, which rolled instead of walked.

Squealing, he wobbled and scrambled aside, just as the large monster roared past. Its stink washed over him, along with a few pebbles, pelting him hard.

"Ouch!" he complained. "How did I even _get_ here?"

"Good job, for a runt," said a voice. It was the same soft voice that Flintkit had heard. Flintkit turned around for the source: a rather muscular, dark russet furred tom with hard amber eyes. Flintkit winced at the fieriness in them; the tom's eyes were like the monster's eyes, which he had seen just a few heartbeats ago.

"Wh-who are you?" asked Flintkit, shivering. He had a feeling that this cat wasn't the nicest.

"Foxstar," the russet furred tom replied softly. "Now that you have passed the first assessment, you will call me Foxstar, and nothing else." Though his voice was quiet, it had an assertion and authority to it. Flintkit didn't dare talk back, and merely nodded.

"Let us go back…and announce your arrival." Foxstar padded away slowly, flicking his tail. Flintkit slowly padded after him.

"Hurry up, will you?" Foxstar paused and peered over his shoulder, eyes narrowed. "Or I might think again about adding you to my Clan…"

Flintkit shivered and caught up. Foxstar still didn't move.

"When you walk alongside the leader," he said, "walk _behind _him. Only the ones whose ranks challenge mine are allowed to walk shoulder-to-shoulder with me." And with that, Foxstar continued briskly down a forest path, Flintkit hurrying along in his wake, careful to walk behind him.

Flintkit was panting slightly as the two reached the camp. Foxstar had told Flintkit what to expect and about the Clan, and Flintkit was ready to be announced, whatever that was.

Foxstar sauntered up to a tree and climbed swiftly up onto the lowest branch. He didn't need to call the warriors together; they immediately clustered around the base of the tree, looking up fearfully and anxiously.

Foxstar's eyes were now no more than two red slits, his dark pupils moving back and forth, taking in the Clan. Silence rang among the camp. No one dared to move.

"We are," Foxstar meowed slowly and softly, "about to gain a new member to the Clan. Please welcome Flintkit, son of Whitestag and Silverbriar."

"Flintkit! Flintkit!" the Clan cheered. Although it wasn't a monotonic chant, Flintkit could tell that they were doing it out of fear and not real excitement. _Wow, Foxstar must really have these cats under control._

"Silence." Foxstar stood up, and the Clan immediately fell silent. "Please give your congratulations to Flintkit, and work hard, now that we have an extra mouth to feed. This meeting is at an end."

_An extra mouth to feed? Is that what he thinks of me?_ Thought Flintkit, annoyed. Foxstar jumped down the oak branch, walked out of the camp, and into the forest. The whole Clan seemed to sigh of relief.

A white tom about his size approached Flintkit. "Hello. I'm Cloudkit, your littermate."

"Littermate? I have a littermate?" asked Flintkit. He had never seen, or heard of, Cloudkit in his entire short life.

"Yeah," Cloudkit meowed quietly. "I took the assessment just two days ago, when I opened my eyes."

"What's the assessment for?" asked Flintkit. Cloudkit shrugged.

A huge cat passed by, and walked over to them. He stood towering over the two kits, but compared to Foxstar, he was nothing.

"I'm Tigerpaw," he said quietly, though he had a nervous tone and didn't sound at all like Foxstar.

So far, no one did.

"I'm an apprentice," Tigerpaw continued. "Training to be a warrior. The first assessment is for when you're a kit. Foxstar takes you, just before your eyes open—"

"How is he supposed to know when your eyes open?" argued Cloudkit.

Tigerpaw shook his head. "One rule is to never interrupt the leader. I don't know how he knows. But he takes you, just before you open your eyes, and sets you on the Thunderpath, a Twoleg made path. It's for their monsters."

"Is that what that was?" gasped Flintkit, remembering the big "thing" roaring at him. "I saw this huge thing with glowing yellow eyes. It was rolling towards me really fast, and I only just got away."

Tigerpaw nodded. "That's a monster. There's all sizes, but any of those can kill you. He tests your toughness. If you survive the Thunderpath, he initiates you into the Clan. Otherwise, you die an early death."

"How do you become an apprentice?" asked Flintkit.

"You have to become of age. Six moons," Tigerpaw replied. "But it's horrible here. Foxstar rules everyone and everything, and no one dares to object. Being a ShadowClan warrior is no fun anymore."

"Isn't there four Clans?" asked Cloudkit. "ShadowClan, RiverClan, WindClan, and ThunderClan. Why can't you just join another one?"

"Shhh!" Tigerpaw whispered urgently, for many of the warriors had looked at them fearfully. "If he comes back and hears you, you're dead! But you can't run away, this apprentice I knew tried to sneak off towards ThunderClan, and he actually joined it, but a few days later he was dead."

"What was his name?" asked Flintkit, a coldness creeping into him.

Tigerpaw shook his head vigorously. "We're not supposed to talk about that kind of stuff. Just keep your muzzle shut."

"But…can't we just all rebel against Foxstar?" Cloudkit inquired, tipping his head to the side.

"It's not as easy as it looks. Foxstar can defeat anyone. This other time, one warrior tried to fight him, and he lost in the first ten heartbeats. Foxstar slit his throat. You can still see the blood on Foxstar's claws. He doesn't clean them, to scare us. You don't know how many cats' blood have ended up on those claws." Tigerpaw shuddered.

Flintkit frowned. He was actually looking forward to this day. It had seemed like a fun place, ShadowClan. But now it was nothing but a huddle of cowardly ShadowClan warriors with an autocratic leader who wasn't afraid to kill.


	3. Onyxkit's Arrival

Flintkit spent most of his days padding cautiously around the camp, exploring with Cloudkit. Every warrior seemed to be taking well-placed pawsteps, as if the ground would give away if they walked too carelessly. All of them spoke very carefully too, considering their words before they opened their muzzles.

Flintkit was terrified of Foxstar, who spent his days either in the forest walking alone or sitting at the base of the Tall Oak just watching the Clan do their work through his lazy, half-lidded stare. There seemed to a dangerous aura surrounding the russet warrior which everyone steered clear of. No one messed with the almighty Foxstar.

Foxstar got up from his position at the base of the Tall Oak, stretched, then padded out into the forest. The Clan gradually relaxed and the mood suddenly seemed a lot more cheerful.

"Where does he go every day?" asked Flintkit, padding up to Tigerpaw.

Tigerpaw shook his head. "These kind of things you have to learn not to ask. You can't say what you feel, if you feel badly about this. You'll get killed."

"Does _anyone_ like it here?" asked Flintkit.

Tigerpaw closed his eyes. "Some do. Most of us don't, but we don't have a choice."

"Fallenshadow has kitted!" Logpelt dashed out of the nursery.

"Foxstar is gone," noticed Spottedpaw.

"I'll go get him." Raggedlion pushed his way from the crowd and strode out of camp.

"Raggedlion is one of Foxstar's closest accomplices," whispered Tigerpaw to Flintkit and Cloudkit. "If anyone says anything bad about Foxstar, Raggedlion is the first to tell him. He's one of the cats that like Foxstar."

Flintkit shivered. How could anyone like such a dark cat? Especially one as shady as Foxstar!

A long while later, Foxstar returned to camp with Raggedlion trailing behind him. Flintkit noticed that even Raggedlion didn't walk shoulder-to-shoulder with Foxstar.

Foxstar sat down in the middle of camp. "Bring me the kits," he commanded quietly.

"But Foxstar," the medine cat Snowfreckle protested nervously, "they've only just been born."

Foxstar looked at her unblinkingly, and tilted his head to the side slowly, curling his white-tipped tail around his paws. "Bring me the kits."

Snowfreckle didn't need another repeating, and she raced towards the nursery with Flowerstorm, and came out with three loud, mewling kits. All of their eyes were closed.

_Wow, was I like that when I was born?_ Flintkit wondered, disgusted at the kits' manners.

Foxstar sniffed them one by one. "And what are their names?"

The mother, Fallenshadow, looked tired but at the question she seemed to perk up. "Th-the tabby one is Jumpingkit, the she-cat is Dawnkit, and the black tom is Onyxkit."

Foxstar looked down upon the squealing kits, and nodded slowly. "Very well. I sense that Jumpingkit and Dawnkit are going to open their eyes three days later. Bring them to me on that day. Onyxkit, we'll have to wait." And with that, the russet warrior slid out his blood-stained claws. Everyone seemed to back away. Flintkit felt his fur spike.

Mercilessly, Foxstar hooked up Jumpingkit by the scruff and examined him, then set him on the ground carelessly. Then, he looked at the other two kits. All three were crying loudly.

The whole Clan seemed to wait with bated breath.

Finally, Foxstar set the third kit, Onyxkit, down with a _thud _next to his sister Dawnkit. "Onyxkit is very small for his age. But, Flintkit survived the first assessment, so I am confident that Onyxkit will too."

"But he's so small," gasped Fallenshadow, her body visibly shaking.

"I am confident that Onyxkit will pass," repeated Foxstar softly, and no one replied. He padded towards the Tall Oak and sat down beneath it. The Clan resumed its duties, but Flintkit could tell that the nervous air of tension had returned once again.

Three days later, Jumpingkit and Dawnkit had officially become part of the Clan, and Flintkit was rather happy to have someone else to play with other than Cloudkit. Cloudkit often didn't listen to Tigerpaw's hisses and whispers of warning and spoke loudly about Foxstar whenever the dark leader was away on one of his daily walks. The whole Clan stared at the white kit in horror whenever he ranted, but Flintkit could tell that they were totally agreeing to everything.

Then on the next day, Foxstar grabbed Onyxkit from the nursery and padded out of the forest with Fallenshadow and Aspenheart.

"They're giving Onyxkit the first assessment," whispered Tigerpaw as the Clan watched the patrol disappear.

"Tigerpaw! Quit playing with the kits and join Frostfurze's patrol!" snapped Raggedlion. Tigerpaw flicked his tail and padded away quickly.

"I wonder if other Clans do it like this, too?" frowned Cloudkit.

"Shh!" whispered Flintkit urgently, worrying for his brother. "Don't you listen to Tigerpaw? You'll die!"

He glanced quickly over at Raggedlion, but got a cold chill down his spine. The shaggy, golden brown tom was watching them intently.

Foxstar reappeared from the forest, this time with Onyxkit stumbling along in his wake. The russet leader jumped up onto the Tall Oak and sat down, waiting for his Clan to notice. Of course, all the warriors had been watching warily and immediately gathered around.

"We have," Foxstar meowed, "a new addition to the Clan. Please welcome Onyxkit, son of Logpelt and Fallenshadow."

"Onyxkit! Onyxkit!" Flintkit forced himself to look cheerful.

"Please give your congratulations to Onyxkit, and resume your duties. This meeting is at an end." Foxstar jumped down from the Tall Oak and disappeared into his den.

"Wow! I can't wait to be a warrior!" exclaimed Onyxkit.

_You've got the wrong message, Onyxkit,_ thought Flintkit sadly. _ShadowClan isn't what it seems._


	4. A Visit From Thistlestar

Flintkit padded over to Silverbriar's side, and curled up next to Cloudkit, who was already asleep. Life in ShadowClan wasn't proving to be very nice. Flintkit spent his days avoiding Foxstar and speaking in quiet tones, hoping that Foxstar's accomplices didn't catch the gossip.

Night fell. Flintkit closed his eyes, but when he opened them, he wasn't in ShadowClan anymore. Instead, he found himself on an island in a meadow.

"Where am I?" he wondered out loud, a bit scared.

"Greetings, young warrior." A black-and-white tom stepped out of the trees surrounding the meadow. "My name is Thistlestar."

"Were you a leader?" Flintkit asked.

"Yes. I am afraid Foxstar has turned my Clan into a nightmare," the black-and-white tom meowed sadly.

"I hate it there," blurted out Flintkit. Everything he was hiding he wanted to spill out to this cat, who he thought, by instinct, he could trust. "Everyday Foxstar just watches us, and no one dares to speak out against him, because they'll get killed if they do. And the first assessment is just cruel, because if you don't pass you die. Also, you can't escape, or Foxstar will find and kill you. So you're basically just trapped there."

Thistlestar nodded, his eyes looking sympathetic and sad. "I'm sorry. I have watched over you ever since you have been born. I know your pains."

"Why can't you help us?" Flintkit asked, a sudden annoyance growing inside him. "You've been spying on us this whole time and didn't lift a paw to help! You're a leader and he's a leader, you two can fight, right? Are you a ThunderClan leader? RiverClan? WindClan?"

Thistlestar shook his head. "I was a ShadowClan leader."

Flintkit tilted his head, now thoroughly confused. "I thought Foxstar was ShadowClan leader. Unless there's another ShadowClan?"

"I'm dead," Thistlestar meowed. "I'm a StarClan cat, the Clan of warrior ancestors."

"Oh," Flintkit meowed. "Don't you have the power of the stars in your paws or something? Why can't you just take Foxstar's life?"

Thistlestar shook his head again, his tail flicking. "It's not that easy. Foxstar's fate tells us that we cannot interfere. He must learn on his own, as must you."

"What's a fate?" asked Flintkit.

"You'll learn when you grow older," Thistlestar meowed gently. Flintkit wished that he could stay here forever, with the warm wind ruffling his fur and a leader watching over him. Thistlestar made him feel safe and rather confident, unlike Foxstar, who radiated power over the Clan.

"So why are you here?" Flintkit tilted his head.

"To bring a message," Thistlestar said simply. "Are you ready for the message?"

"I guess," Flintkit meowed. _If I'm surviving everyday under Foxstar's rule, then I can take on anything._

Thistlestar took a deep breath. "The fox of the stars will be crushed under the strength of the rock, and the boulder of the night will perish by the fury of the hawk."

* * *

><p><em>The fox of the stars will be crushed under the strength of the rock, and the boulder of the night will perish by the fury of the hawk. <em>Thistlestar's ominous message echoed in Flintkit's head.

"Are you okay?" whispered Cloudkit, rather loudly, as they shared a mouse Frostfurze had caught. "You look kind of disturbed."

"Yeah," Flintkit hissed back. "Keep your voice down." Flintkit could feel Foxstar's piercing fiery gaze bore into him.

"What are you talking about, kits?" a quiet voice asked. A shadow fell over them, blocking the sun.

Flintkit slowly look up, but he knew who it was already.

"H-hello," Flintkit managed to squeak out.

"Why are you whispering?" Foxstar tilted his head. "This is a Clan. You should have no secrets. We are a family." Foxstar took a step back and let the sun shine in Flintkit's and Cloudkit's eyes, and they looked away fearfully.

Foxstar slowly backed away. "Loyalty to the Clan is everything. If you are not loyal to me and ShadowClan, well, you'll find yourselves… in a different place."

"Really, Foxstar!" meowed a reddish brown tom irritably. "Do not scare the kits like that!"

Foxstar said nothing and flicked his tail, and padded into the forest. For several heartbeats, Flintkit and Cloudkit didn't dare to breathe.

"That reddish brown tom didn't get punished," hissed Cloudkit, not moving his muzzle.

"That's because I'm the deputy." Both kits turned around. Flintkit's heart jumped, surprised for the second time. It was the reddish brown tom.

"My name is Aspenheart," the tom meowed. "I'm Foxstar's brother."

Flintkit and Cloudkit immediately scrambled away. "You're that monster's brother!" gasped Cloudkit.

"CLOUDKIT!" shrieked Flintkit. "Be quiet!" He looked over quickly at Raggedlion and Jaggedleaf, but they were busy talking to each other.

"Stop!" cried Aspenheart, causing nearby warriors to look up in alarm. He flattened his ears apologetically and lowered his voice. "I am not like that. Foxstar still loves me as a brother, and he let me resume my role as deputy. But I am not a tyrant like him. There is still goodness in the Clan."

"Thank the stars," sighed Flintkit.

* * *

><p>"Flintkit, Cloudkit, come here," Silverbriar called out from the nursery.<p>

"Yes?" Flintkit hurried over, rushing past Foxstar quickly, hoping that he hadn't looked too guilty or walked too fast. Not that he had done anything bad but gossip about the russet leader.

Silverbriar had already begun grooming Cloudkit. "You'll want to look nice today," she said between licks, "as it is your apprentice moment."

Flintkit's heart leapt. Despite being in ShadowClan, he still had the hopes of becoming an apprentice, then a warrior. After all, ShadowClan was his home, and he was loyal to ShadowClan and only ShadowClan (except maybe its leader). He secretly hoped to impress

"I wonder who my mentor is," he pondered out loud.

"Well, _I_ want Whitestag," Cloudkit meowed.

"I want someone who is strong and smart," Flintkit said, perhaps a bit loudly, because he looked over and saw Foxstar looking over at him.

"Scorchwhisker?" suggested Cloudkit.

"Yeah, Scorchwhisker," Flintkit agreed, thinking of the lithe, dark ginger tom.

Quickly looking away, he let Silverbriar groom him.

"Until this cat receives his warrior name, he will be known as Cloudpaw." Foxstar's soft voice rang out through the silent clearing. All of ShadowClan were looking at Flintkit and Cloudkit intently.

"Whitestag will be his mentor," Foxstar said. Whitestag stepped forward and touched noses with Cloudpaw, and then the two stepped aside. Flintkit could tell that Cloudkit was pleased. _Perhaps Foxstar had overheard our conversation. Who will he give me that's strong and smart?_

"Flintkit, step forward."

Shaking slightly at the idea of being under the direct attention of Foxstar, he stepped forward.

"Until this cat receives his warrior name, he will be known as Flintpaw. His mentor will be…" Foxstar paused.

_Strong, smart… come on, say Scorchwhisker…_

"Me."


	5. Impossible!

_Impossible!_ Flintpaw just wanted to curl up and die right there. Foxstar jumped down nimbly from the branch of the Great Oak and Flintpaw reluctantly touched noses with him.

"Cloudpaw! Flintpaw!" chanted the Clan. Flintpaw glanced around. His Clanmates' facial expressions ranged from surprised to sympathy to leering.

"This meeting is at an end," drawled Foxstar. The Clan began to disperse.

Spottedpaw padded up to Flintpaw with Tigerpaw, and they stared at him for a while.

"Good job," Tigerpaw forced out.

"Yeah, you'll be our denmate now," Spottedpaw added weakly.

"Thanks," Flintpaw meowed, feeling terrible. Of all the warriors in the Clan, he _had_ to have Foxstar! Could his life get any worse?

"Come." Foxstar had appeared silently at Flintpaw's side. Spottedpaw and Tigerpaw visibly shrank back. "Let us explore the territory."

Flintpaw followed Foxstar nervously as the russet warrior lead the way out of camp. The sun shone down on the forest, causing the trees to cast dappling shadows onto the woody, damp forest floor. The warm wind ruffled Flintpaw's fur, making this a day he would've enjoyed had it not been for the cat walking in front of him. Wordlessly, they walked around the forest, Foxstar never glancing back Flintpaw. Foxstar seemed to bring darkness to everywhere he went; even the birds didn't dare to sing when the two walked by. The forest seemed to stretch on forever, although the scenery was never the same. Finally, the woods opened up to the lakeshore, where the grass slowly turned into a muddy, wet, pebbled soil. The lake waves lapped noisily at the shore. Foxstar stepped out, gazing towards the lake. In the distant was an island.

"I will teach you the most basic moves today," Foxstar murmured without turning around, and Flintpaw had to strain his ears to hear the words through the noise of the waves.

"What kind of moves are those?" Flintpaw managed after a rather long silence.

Foxstar slowly turned around, his hard amber eyes radiating no friendliness or warmth. "You shall see in a moment. I assume, like the good ShadowClan kit you have been, that you have been watching the apprentices practice?"

Flintpaw swallowed. "I have."

"I know," Foxstar meowed quietly. "Drop into the attack crouch for me."

Obediently, Flintpaw tried to copy what he had seen Tigerpaw and the others do countless times. Foxstar slowly walked around Flintpaw, who desperately tried not to kick him as the russet warrior looked at his back posture. _Don't attack, don't attack me, please…_

"Flanks are too high," Foxstar decided, and with a powerful push knocked Flintpaw down, where he hit his muzzle on the pebbles.

_Ouch._ Flintpaw struggled to get up, terrified that Foxstar would do it again.

"Get up," snapped Foxstar. Flintpaw jumped to his paws.

"Again," commanded Foxstar. Flintpaw dropped into the crouch, his flanks a little lower this time.

"Like, like this?" he stuttered.

"Better," murmured Foxstar. It was the first positive word that Flintpaw had received, besides the small "welcome" and "congratulations" that Foxstar had said during his initiation speech. "Your front paws are stretched out too far; the enemy will claw you before you can stand up."

Flintpaw quickly adjusted his posture before Foxstar could do it for him. The russet tom nodded slowly and continued walking around, criticizing almost every stance. Flintpaw began to grow tired and his muscles began to ache.

"Stand up," Foxstar meowed at last, and Flintpaw resisted the urge to sigh in relief. Quickly, he stood up and puffed out his chest, hoping to look confident and not a wimpy kit who was just an "extra mouth to feed."

"How'd I do?" Flintpaw asked hopefully.

Foxstar seemed to consider the question, his eyes narrowing as he fixed his fiery gaze at his apprentice.

_Uh-oh,_ Flintpaw thought. Foxstar was probably going to punish him for speaking wrongly.

To Flintpaw's surprise, however, Foxstar meowed, "not bad." Flintpaw hoped that he hadn't visibly relaxed too much.

"We shall," Foxstar meowed, "begin the first attack movement; the front paw swipe." Foxstar crouched down into the attack crouch and focused on a small patch of grass. His right forepaw suddenly shot out and deftly swiped the tips of the grass, then shot back and he jumped back, spitting.

_Is he aggressive to anything he aims to fight?_ Wondered Flintpaw. _It's just grass. It hasn't done anything wrong._

Foxstar stared at him, his gaze cold and hard. "This patch of grass is an outcast." He gestured at it with his tail.

_I spoke out loud!_ Flintpaw realized, alarmed. A cold chill raced up his spine as Foxstar continued to stare at him. His face was expressionless. Flintpaw braced himself.

"It does not grow with the other patches of grass," Foxstar continued. "Yet it stays close. Like some warriors in ShadowClan who do not rightfully belong. I hope that you are not one of these warriors."

Flintpaw shook his head vigorously. "No, Foxstar," he meowed solemnly. "Never, Foxstar."

Foxstar nodded. "Good, that's exactly what I like to hear. Let us continue the lesson."


	6. Flintkit as Flintpaw

**By the way, if you haven't begun, Foxstar has a British accent ^^**

* * *

><p>Flintpaw shivered as Foxstar aimed for the grass again, swiping at it with a renewed sort of fury.<p>

_What made him so—so insane?_ Flintpaw wondered. _There can't be a cat who can possibly be mad at everything._

For a moment, Flintpaw felt an overwhelming amount of sympathy for his mentor. Then, it faded as Foxstar suddenly flew into a fury and started tearing up the grass.

The russet warrior stood up, his fur flat and his expression like his usual; calm but piercing, stoic but fierce, serene but disturbed. "The outliers will only cause trouble," Foxstar meowed quietly. "You must learn to oppose them."

"Yes, Foxstar," Flintpaw meowed shakily.

Foxstar gestured to the grass with his tail. "Give it a try."

Shaking slightly, Flintpaw crouched and lashed his paw out to the grass, being as gentle as possible with his claws sheathed.

"Harder! Feel the anger coursing through your blood!" snarled Foxstar. Flintpaw struck harder, then jumped back, trying to spit as hard as Foxstar had and look mean.

"I don't think you're actually feeling it," Foxstar criticized.

Flintpaw gritted his teeth, and crouched, his tail whipping back and forth. He forced himself to unsheathe his claws and glared at the grass. _I'm sorry._ He lashed out as hard as he could, tearing the tips and shredding it.

"That's it," Foxstar meowed, sounding rather satisfied. "How did it feel?"

"G-good," stammered Flintpaw.

"Elaborate," drawled Foxstar.

"Um, I feel like that the outliers don't stand a chance," Flintpaw meowed wildly.

Foxstar nodded slowly, training his gaze on Flintpaw, who tried not to flinch or look away. "Good. I am glad that you think the same way. Perhaps I was right to make you my apprentice. I always wanted someone who could continue my legacy."

_Legacy? _

Foxstar stared into the lake's distance again, the creepy silence hanging in the air once again.

"Um… should I continue practicing?" asked Flintpaw nervously.

Foxstar turned his head slowly, his eyes narrowed. "No, I think we'll move on to the hook move," he meowed quietly. "Remember, claws unsheathed, and feel the anger. That's the makings of a true warrior."

* * *

><p>Flintpaw padded wearily into his den in his new nest, and collapsed next to Cloudpaw. It was strangely empty without Silverbriar beside him, but at least he still had his littermate. The only other new thing was Hawkpaw's loud snores.<p>

"Can't sleep either," Cloudpaw meowed. "Hawkpaw."

"You'll get used to it," Spottedpaw meowed sleepily from a corner.

Flintpaw noticed that they sounded a lot more confident, even relaxed, in the den.

"Foxstar doesn't come in here," Spottedpaw meowed in a hushed whisper. "It's safe to talk. Also, he goes on long midnight walks."

Flintpaw nodded. His first day as an apprentice, and Foxstar had run him ragged. They had spent all morning learning the front paw moves (claws unsheathed) and in the afternoon he had to do all the tasks, even though Tigerpaw had already done them. Foxstar had stood to the side, watching, not even lifting a paw to help.

"Sleeping well?" a quiet voice meowed. All the apprentices looked up in alarm. In the light of the moon, there stood Foxstar, his russet fur turned black, his amber eyes glowing like two miniature suns.

"Y-yes, Foxstar," stammered Flintpaw. "It's very nice here."

"Good." Foxstar sat down at the entrance of the den. No one questioned what he was doing, and the apprentices sank uneasily into their nests, the relaxed, calm air turned immediately turning into a nerve-racking, tensioned one.


	7. The New Apprentices and Warriors

Everyday, Foxstar took his new apprentice out and trained him, from sunrise to mid-sun. Afterwards, Flintpaw had to complete his apprentice tasks and go on many patrols, under the careful watch of his austere mentor.

For a reason no cat dared to ask, every night when Flintpaw padded into the apprentice's den to rest Foxstar would follow him, and sit at the entrance, watching. Flintpaw always slept with his back facing the russet warrior, his fur dyed a dark, blood-brown color in the night. It was like sleeping next to a badger.

Then one day, Foxstar padded past Flintpaw, who was waiting, sitting by the base of the Tall Oak, and jumped on the branch above him. Flintpaw dived aside to avoid the shower of twigs and pine needles, and scowled, baring his teeth at Foxstar, an annoyance starting to bubble.

Suddenly aware of what he had done, a hot chill spiked up his spine, and he glanced fearfully up at Foxstar, who was sitting on the branch, a nonchalant look on his face. The russet tom glanced back at Flintpaw, and moved up a branch. Flintpaw twitched his ears in surprise; Foxstar had not punished him for scowling rudely.

Bewildered, Flintpaw sat down with the other Clan members and watched Foxstar intently, but nervously, like the others. The elders slid out of their dens and joined the rest of the Clan.

"Today," Foxstar meowed, his quiet voice audible in the din, "we will welcome three new apprentices, and three new warriors."

The Clan was silent.

"Jumpingkit, step forward." The little kit, trembling visibly, was left standing with his littermates Dawnkit and Onyxkit as the Clan warily drew back. Foxstar gazed down at the kits. "Until this cat receives his warrior name, he will be Jumpingpaw. Flowerstorm will be his mentor."

Jumpingpaw touched noses with Flowerstorm and they stepped to the side as Foxstar called Dawnkit.

"Until this cat receives her warrior name, she will be known as Dawnpaw. Frostfurze will be her mentor."

The two cats touched noses, and they retreated next to Jumpingpaw and Flowerstorm. Finally, Foxstar called Onyxkit.

"Until this cat receives his warrior name, he will be known as Onyxpaw. Aspenheart will be his mentor."

Aspenheart walked forward, his eyes shining with warmth for his new apprentice. Onyxpaw, however, flicked his tail, touched noses lightly, and strutted towards his littermates and their mentors without giving Aspenheart a second glance.

_What's wrong with him?_ Flintpaw thought irritably. _He ought to have a little more respect._

"Tigerpaw, step forward," Foxstar meowed. The large tabby tom did as he was told, his head held up high, pride for his Clan and for himself shining in his eyes. Flintpaw, for a moment, felt jealous. Although it was ShadowClan, Foxstar's Clan, being a warrior still had its perks and exciting moments.

"Badgerfang, has Tigerpaw passed the assessments and shown warrior skills?" drawled Foxstar.

"Yes," Badgerfang meowed quietly from the back of the crowd, though when Flintpaw looked back, his eyes were bright with pride.

"Do you promise to protect this Clan with your life?" Foxstar was staring at Tigerpaw intently, his amber eyes holding that fiery, challenging gaze.

Tigerpaw flinched visibly, but his head was kept high. "I do."

_Foxstar didn't say 'do you promise to uphold the warrior code _and_ protect the Clan with your life,'_ Flintpaw noticed. And as he glanced around his Clanmates' faces, he could tell that this new oath had become a regular thing.

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I name this cat Tigerthorn. Hawkpaw, step forward."

Hawkpaw stepped up, next to Tigerthorn.

"Ashwhisker, has Hawkpaw shown warrior skills and passed the assessments?" Foxstar asked quietly.

"Y-yes," stammered Ashwhisker, shrinking back a bit.

If Foxstar had noticed, he didn't show it. "Do you promise to protect the Clan with your life?"

"I do."

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I name this cat Hawksplash. Spottedpaw, step forward."

Spottedpaw took his turn next to the two new warriors.

"Wolftail, has Spottedpaw passed the assessments and shown warrior skills?" Foxstar repeated.

"Yes, Foxstar," meowed Wolftail proudly, meeting his leader's gaze; Flintpaw knew that he was one of the few warriors supporting Foxstar's dictatorship. He shivered.

"Then I name you Spottedtuft," Foxstar meowed.

"Tigerthorn! Hawksplash! Spottedtuft!" chanted the warriors halfheartedly, like they always did. Flintpaw made sure to chant his loudest; Foxstar was watching him through narrowed eyes.

"This meeting is at an end," concluded the russet tom, and jumped off the branch.

Trying to avoid Foxstar, Flintpaw padded quickly to Onyxpaw. "Good job. You're my new denmate now," he meowed, trying to sound friendly and welcoming.

The young black tom bared his teeth angrily at Flintpaw, reminding him strongly of Foxstar. "I don't understand why I got Aspenheart," meowed Onyxpaw angrily. "Foxstar is the best!"

Flintpaw gaped at him. "W-what?"

"You heard me," retorted Onyxpaw. "I wish I'd gotten Foxstar. I'd be the best warrior ever! I'll be the next leader!"

"But he's _evil_," whispered Flintpaw, casting a quick glance at Foxstar. He was talking to Raggedlion and Hawksplash.

"He's awesome!" Onyxpaw exclaimed in awe.

Flintpaw shook his head. Who would think such a thing? _Do you see the things he does everyday? Maybe if you were his apprentice, then you would think differently._


	8. Onyxpaw's Apprenticeship

Onyxpaw had harbored a deep hatred for Flintpaw, ever since he was picked as Foxstar's apprentice.

_If Foxstar had waited a bit longer,_ Onyxpaw thought bitterly, _then he would've seen what a good warrior I was._

"Come on, Onyxpaw, let's go explore the territory," Aspenheart meowed brightly.

"Okay!" Onyxpaw meowed sarcastically. "I can't _wait_."

If Aspenheart had detected it, he didn't show it. Flicking his tail, the reddish brown tom lead Onyxpaw out of the camp, glancing back occasionally to see if Onyxpaw was keeping up.

"ShadowClan territory is big," warned Aspenheart, "so don't get lost!"

"Yeah, whatever," muttered Onyxpaw. He couldn't wait to be a warrior.

"Flintpaw, walk with me," Foxstar called from across the silent clearing. The gray-and-dirty-cream tom padded carefully over to his mentor and the two disappeared into the territory.

Onyxpaw scowled, but Jaggedleaf walked over. "Do the apprentice duties, will you?" he snapped.

"I thought it was Flintpaw's day," Onyxpaw replied innocently.

"Flintpaw's been called out by Foxstar, as you _can't_ see," Jaggedleaf drawled. "Hurry up, will you?"

Onyxpaw sighed and resisted the urge to yowl out loud. His ears were so flat against his head that he could feel his muscles stretch. The burn felt rather welcoming.

Grabbing a pile of moss, he headed to the elders' den to change their nests.

"Sorry, Sheepfoot," muttered Onyxpaw as he accidentally stepped on the elder's tail. "Can you get up, please?"

Muttering, Sheepfoot hauled himself up while Onyxpaw messily changed his nest. The old cat sank back in while Onyxpaw moved on to Birchsong, only to jump up with an annoyed cry.

"Put some effort in, will you?" hissed Sheepfoot. "There's a thorn in there!"

"Okay fine, where?" snapped Onyxpaw.

"Show some respect!" scolded Spiderclaw, who was Onyxpaw's father's father.

"Where's the thorn?" repeated Onyxpaw, kneading the ground impatiently with his paws.

Sheepfoot scowled and flicked his tail towards the middle of the nest. Onyxpaw felt around carefully with his tail and located it, pulling it out. _It's not even that big._

Carelessly, he tossed it to the side, and proceeded to change the rest of the elders' nests, ignoring the furious mutterings of Sheepfoot and Birchsong.

* * *

><p>Onyxpaw crouched in the hollow, his tail flicking impatiently while Aspenheart walked around him, observing and criticizing his posture.<p>

"Your flank's a bit high," the reddish warrior meowed. "And don't swish your tail like that—it makes noise."

_Do you really have to lambaste that much?_ Thought Onyxpaw irritably. He lowered his flanks and stopped his tail, flexing his claws, enjoying the way they slid into the soft, muddy spring grass.

"We're not going to train with unsheathed claws," Aspenheart chided lightly. "You know that."

"Flintpaw does, why can't I?" sassed Onyxpaw.

"Because I'm not Foxstar," Aspenheart retorted, "and I don't want you to get hurt during your first practices."

"Getting hurt is part of the warrior's life," sneered Onyxpaw, "and _true_ warriors love battle."

Suddenly, he felt the world spin. The next thing he knew, he was flat on his back, with Aspenheart above him, one russet paw on his throat, pinning him to the ground. Onyxpaw unsheathed his claws and scrabbled uselessly at his mentor's paw.

Aspenheart lowered his head, his dark yellow eyes having a menacing spark. The sunlight reflected off his pupils, and Onyxpaw looked away, blinded.

"_True_ warriors respect the warrior code," snarled Aspenheart, "and don't kill to win. When you're my apprentice, you will be a true warrior. Understand?"

Onyxpaw nodded, though in his heart he knew it wasn't a sincere one. _Since when have I ever been sincere?_

Apsenheart released Onyxpaw and Onyxpaw jumped up, his ears flattened warily.

"Let us continue with the lesson," Aspenheart meowed casually.


	9. Traitors

Flintpaw rose early and stretched quickly, hurrying for the base of the Tall Oak. Glancing up, he saw that the sun had not risen yet—it was a rule, for Foxstar's apprentices, to wait for him at the base of the Tall Oak before sun rise. Above, in a hollow, Flintpaw could see Foxstar's sleeping form, a ball of dark, fox-red fur curled up among a bed of leaves.

Flintpaw was almost to the base of the tree when Foxstar jumped down suddenly, wobbling slightly.

"Good morning," he greeted, jerking his head slightly.

_Since when did he nod in greeting to me?_ Flintpaw thought.

"Good—good morning," echoed Flintpaw, fully dipping his head. "What will we do today?"

Foxstar looked at him intently, as if concentrating hard to read his mind. "We will be reviewing the basics," he meowed softly. Suddenly, he lashed out, claws unsheathed, and Flintpaw immediately jumped to the side, his own claws sliding out. Like a snake, Foxstar landed a blow to Flintpaw's flank.

The wound stinging, Flintpaw crouched low to the ground, keeping his flanks down, and shot towards Foxstar, successfully clawing the massive tom's chest. However, Foxstar's paw came down and sank into Flintpaw's neck. Flintpaw could feel his claws digging into his throat, and he gasped for air.

For a few moments, Foxstar didn't release him, and Flintpaw started to see stars. Then, the weight lifted and Flintpaw lay there, gasping.

"Get up," Foxstar commanded softly. Flintpaw still felt himself flinch at the tone. He hauled himself up, the pains stinging.

"Fairly well," Foxstar continued, "though do not _ever_ go at the chest. I never taught you that, so don't do it. Don't do anything I didn't teach you. You could have been a little quicker and anticipated me jumping out at you."

"Okay," Flintpaw meowed in a shaky voice.

Foxstar nodded. "Go eat and do your duties. And no herbs for the wounds. Let them bleed as a sign of fierceness."

Flintpaw hurried away, his wounds still stinging. Quickly, he gobbled down a mouse and raced to do his apprentice duties.

_I can't ever relax around Foxstar now,_ Flintpaw thought sadly, _I have to watch my back at all times… to make sure he doesn't do that again, or else I'll have much, much worse wounds. ShadowClan cats attacking each other… we'll tear each other to pieces before other Clans can invade us._

* * *

><p>"Flintpaw, please join Logpelt, Vixenclaw, and Onyxpaw on the border patrol," Aspenheart meowed softly from the silent clearing.<p>

Flintpaw got up from his place beside Cloudpaw under the bushes and joined the patrol. Onyxpaw leered at him, and Flintpaw looked away. Foxstar was sitting beneath the Tall Oak like usual, watching them through narrowed eyes.

"Let's…go," Vixenclaw meowed awkwardly, and the patrol headed out the camp. Flintpaw shivered as he turned his back on Foxstar; whenever the russet tom wasn't in his sight he got an overwhelming feeling of trepidation, as if Foxstar was breathing down his neck, his teeth waiting for a chance to sink into his throat.

The patrol headed for the ThunderClan border. A while ago, Foxstar had warned all of ShadowClan, yowling loudly that ThunderClan, for whatever reason, could not be trusted _at all_ and the border should be carefully watched and patrolled at all times. To show it, he had sent Minttooth and Brackenheart over to guard the border. As far as Flintpaw knew, they were still there.

Sure enough, two warriors were already standing at the border. Vixenclaw headed over to them.

"Hello," she greeted, dipping her head. "Have you marked the borders yet?"

"Yes," replied Brackenheart, a cold gleam in his eyes.

Logpelt backed away a bit. "Is something wrong?"

"Yes. Don't come any closer to the border!"

Logpelt narrowed his eyes. "We can go wherever we like. This is _ShadowClan territory._"

"Yes, but you're a bit too close for us," Minttooth chipped in, his tail lashing back and forth.

Vixenclaw let out a growl. "What's going on?"

"Yeah," Onyxpaw interjected, "have you decided to join ThunderClan?"

The two warriors looked straight at them. "Yes."

This act of bravery took ever warrior by surprise. Flintpaw could help it but let out a gasp, and Onyxpaw glared at him.

"You—you're ThunderClan now?" stuttered Flintpaw.

"Yes," Minttooth replied seriously. "We're ThunderClan now."

"But—but Foxstar!" Flintpaw meowed. He was too shocked to speak, but his mind formed the words: _he'll kill you!_

"Yeah, I agree with Flintpaw," Onyxpaw immediately chipped in, moving closer to Flintpaw. He placed a careful paw on Flintpaw's. "You can't leave ShadowClan and its great leader. I thought you were _loyal_! Right, Flintpaw?" Flintpaw could feel the black tom's claws sink into his skin, and gritted his teeth.

"Get off, you piece of fox-dung!" he shoved Onyxpaw to the ground roughly. Foxstar's training involved knocking over opponents with brute strength, and he was able to slap Onyxpaw to the ground easily.

"But how did they accept you?" cried Vixenclaw in disbelief, shooting a warning glance at the two apprentices..

Brackenheart snorted. "Ever since that kittypet Firestar became leader, ThunderClan has been mixed. You practically can just walk in and they'll accept you."

"Yeah, it's really—argh!" Onyxpaw had sunk his claws into Minttooth's neck and hauled him across the border.

"Onyxpaw!" shrieked Logpelt, jumping forward and ripping the black apprentice off of Minttooth. "What are you doing?!"

"He is a traitor to the Clan!" hissed Onyxpaw, his yellow eyes emitting a manic glint. "We must kill him!"

"The warrior code does not state that you kill to win!" snapped Logpelt, his paw over Onyxpaw's throat. "If you do not know that, then you are a traitor to StarClan!"


	10. A Visit to ThunderClan

Onyxpaw felt humiliated as Logpelt let him up. It was the second time in a quarter-moon that he got pinned down that way, and he wasn't about to again. Jumping up, he shook himself and glared at the remaining cats. Why didn't they understand? Minttooth was a traitor to ShadowClan! He did not deserve to live.

"How could you?" he finally asked in disbelief.

Brackenheart shrugged. "We all hate Foxstar, just admit it."

"Well, _I _don't," Onyxpaw growled, his annoyance rising. We all? Who was 'we?' _Not the entire Clan. If they're ShadowClan, then they must like the leader because well…they're part of his Clan, right?_

"Foxstar is a mean and strict leader," Brackenheart meowed, his voice softer. "He will kill anyone who stands in his way."

"Then why don't I kill you now?" Onyxpaw's voice quivered. Why didn't these cats _get it?_ Foxstar believed in making the Clan a pure, united one, and he, Onyxpaw, totally and fully supported him. Traitors like Brackenheart and Minttooth didn't deserve to be in the forest. Their spirits were already tainted. They would never make it to StarClan, as far as he was concerned.

"Try me," growled Brackenheart, and Minttooth walked to stand next to Brackenheart. Both of them glared at Onyxpaw.

_I'm not strong enough to take on these two,_ Onyxpaw realized, _and possibly, I'll have to fight Flintpaw, Logpelt, and Vixenclaw, too. Curse Flintpaw for being Foxstar's favorite! Can't he see that Flintpaw's a flea-pelted traitor too?_

Brackenheart and Minttooth took the silence as a cue to leave. The patrol watched them disappear through the _ThunderClan _forest.

"Well, I hope they're happy," muttered Logpelt.

"Yeah," sighed Vixenclaw. "Wish I'd thought of that…" she suddenly cast a concerned glance towards Onyxpaw and said nothing more.

_Ha, I can't kill Brackenheart and Minttooth, but I know someone who can… and when he does you'll be glad that you didn't go._

* * *

><p>Flintpaw padded back to camp, with an empty feeling in his stomach. Although he had not known Brackenheart or Minttooh personally too well, he still felt like a chunk was missing—a chunk of ShadowClan were missing. Two warriors—gone, probably forever.<p>

_At least there's a chance I'll see them at Gatherings… as ThunderClan warriors. _He had, so far, gone to every single one, as Foxstar's "favorite." He didn't have any desire to be liked by the dark, russet tom, as many of the cats who claimed they were Foxstar's accomplices glared thorns at him like Onyxpaw already did. _I didn't ask for this._

He glanced across the clearing. The patrol had just returned, and Logpelt had gone to talk to Dawnpaw and Jumpingpaw; Vixenclaw was eating a thrush. Onyxpaw disappeared into Foxstar's tree den.

Flintpaw immediately sat up. What was Onyxpaw thinking, going to Foxstar's den like that? Even he didn't dare to (he never tried), and here was Onyxpaw, acting all arrogant and stuck-up! _You think Foxstar will like you if you keep rubbing up against him like that?_

Flintpaw kept glancing at the den, but Onyxpaw seemed to have disappeared deep down into Foxstar's den. Flintpaw knew that the Tall Oak was hollow; there was a hard ledge that you walked on the moment you walked into the den, and a tunnel led down to the bottom of the Oak. Flintpaw was allowed to look around in there once; he had to slid down, using his claws to stabilize himself. Foxstar had said that he sometimes kept bad kits in there as a punishment, shutting them from the world for a few moments, until he couldn't stand the miserable cries.

"They get what they deserve," Foxstar had said.

_What did they do to deserve this horrible punishment?_ Flintpaw had thought. _Surely no punishment bad enough!_

But no one questioned Foxstar, ever.

Flintpaw waited a few more moments. Logpelt looked up from his conversation with his kits and Vixenclaw pushed aside her thrush, her eyes trained on the hollow. The whole Clan seemed to be holding their breath; clearly everyone had seen Onyxpaw disappear into Foxstar's den, and wondered if he would ever come out.

As if on cue, the two warriors slid out. Foxstar was in the lead, walking at such a fast pace that Onyxpaw was sprinting to catch up; Foxstar jumped down gracefully from the branch and strode out, while Onyxpaw leapt down and crashed. He immediately jumped up and continued trailing Foxstar, his tail waving in an air of excited anticipation. His eyes gleamed hungrily.

Foxstar headed towards Vixenclaw, who stood up at once.

"You say you saw Brackenheart and Minttooth on the ThunderClan border?" asked Foxstar quietly. The Clan listened with bated breath. The clearing was silent except for Onyxpaw's ragged pants.

"Y-yes, Foxstar," Vixenclaw meowed.

"I must speak with Beetlestar. Come along, Flintpaw." Foxstar started to walk out of the clearing.

Flintpaw was stunned for a moment, then Cloudpaw nudged him gently, and his paws moved towards Foxstar.

"What about me?" whined Onyxpaw.

Foxstar fixed the black tom with a hard and unfriendly gaze. "If Aspenheart agrees so."

"No," Aspenheart said fiercely. "You will not tamper with this business."

"I won't allow it either," Logpelt meowed with determined confidence. Fallenshadow padded out of the warrior's den and nodded, too. Raggedlion, Jaggedleaf, Hawksplash, and Wolftail glared at Flintpaw with such contempt in their eyes it was enough to rival Foxstar's everyday ones. Flintpaw flattened his ears and cowered behind Foxstar's tall legs.

Foxstar gazed at Onyxpaw with the same chilly glare for a moment more, then said nothing and flicked his tail to summon his apprentice, smacking Flintpaw in the face. Flintpaw's face stung, but he followed Foxstar out.

Foxstar seemed to mutter something.

"What was that?" asked Flintpaw, confused. Foxstar never said that word.

"Nothing," replied Foxstar curtly. "Be quiet, and let us walk, or I will regret having you along."

_I could have swore it was a "sorry."_


	11. A Change of Heart?

"Why—why did you take me along?" asked Flintpaw as they neared the ThunderClan border. "Sorry."

"You are my apprentice," Foxstar meowed slowly, his deep, quiet words slurred slightly. "and you are to see what punishments I do to… cats who are not worthy of their life. Cats who have committed crimes…"

_Is escaping you really a crime?_ Flintpaw shivered.

"I…I am honored to see," he managed to choke out. Foxstar said nothing. Without hesitation, he stepped over the border and continued walking the same pace on ThunderClan territory.

Flintpaw, of course, had never been on ThunderClan territory, but all he had to do was follow Foxstar; the russet warrior walked confidently, twisting around the woods, avoiding the poison ivy, as if he walked around every day and this was his own territory.

They neared tangle of bushes. _This is ThunderClan camp?_

Foxstar ducked under a small lump of missing twigs and crawled through. Flintpaw followed, the sharp, broken twigs jabbing into his skin like Foxstar's claws. Used to this, Flintpaw didn't flinch.

When he crawled out, his eyes widened. He was standing on the edge of a gorge. Below them was a vast pit, a rocky canyon that stretched fathoms deep. Foxstar picked his way down the rocky slopes, Flintpaw following him carefully.

A blue gray tom Flintpaw recognized from Gatherings as Beetlestar, the leader of ThunderClan, padded over at once from his place at a conversation.

"I think I know what this is about," he meowed, narrowing his eyes, rather bravely, Flintpaw thought.

"The warriors," were all Foxstar said.

"I knew it," Beetlestar sighed in defeat. "They're on patrol right now."

"I can wait," Foxstar replied simply, waving his tail carelessly. "Why don't we talk for a while? Flintpaw…"

"He can explore the camp," sighed Beetlestar. "Why did you bring him here, though?"

"He is my apprentice," Foxstar said succinctly. Beetlestar didn't seem to understand, but he said nothing more.

_Yeah, I don't know either._

"Grasspaw, go with Flintpaw and show him around, will you?" called Beetlestar. A gray tom hurried over.

"My apprentice is perfectly capable of taking care of himself," Foxstar murmured audibly. Flintpaw felt a surge of pride.

"Well, this is ThunderClan territory," retorted Beetlestar. "I set the rules."

Foxstar looked sideways at him, and the blue gray leader gulped. "Let us… talk," Foxstar repeated.

"Come on," Grasspaw murmured to Flintpaw. "Let them take care of leader business. I'll show you around."

Flintpaw followed Grasspaw around, meeting the ThunderClan warriors. He could see why Brackenheart and Minttooth wanted to come here; compared to ShadowClan, it was like StarClan; the clearing was full of talk, the latest gossip about the other Clans. Warriors slacked around, sharing tongues and eating prey together, talking. Everyone looked happy, content. In ShadowClan, warriors padded around fearfully every day, always glancing behind their backs. Even now, Flintpaw kept glancing back at Foxstar, who was talking to Beetlestar. They hadn't moved.

"It's safe," reassured Grasspaw, "you've got nothing to worry about here."

"You always have to worry when _he's_ around," Flintpaw said.

"Is it really that bad?" frowned Grasspaw, stopping at a distance from the leaders.

"Yeah," sighed Flintpaw. Grasspaw reminded Flintpaw of Thistlestar the StarClan cat; he was a cat Flintpaw felt like he could trust, even if they were from different Clans.

Quietly, he briefly told Grasspaw about life under Foxstar. The gray apprentice's eyes widened. "But that's horrible! Why would he—"

"Shhh!" Flintpaw meowed frantically as Beetlestar glanced their way. Foxstar didn't seem to notice, but you never knew, really.

* * *

><p>Flintpaw was talking with Grasspaw and his new friend Mallowfur when four cats, purring loudly and talking, strode in. Brackenheart and Minttooth were with them.<p>

When the two former ShadowClan warriors spotted Foxstar, they froze, along with their new Clanmates. The entire ThunderClan seemed to suddenly stop breathing. Grasspaw and Mallowfur fell silent.

_Run,_ thought Flintpaw frantically, _run and never come back!_

Foxstar saunted over to them, his expression unreadable. The camp was so quiet Flintpaw could hear every single one of Foxstar's pawsteps.

"So," Foxstar meowed slowly, "you left me. Us. ShadowClan."

The two warriors said nothing, but met Foxstar's gaze evenly.

"Alright," Foxstar continued stoically. "I accept your decision."

Brackenheart and Minttooth exchanged an surprised glance. Flintpaw pricked his ears. Did he just hear what the russet warrior just said? "_I accept you decision?"_


	12. A Horrible Scene

Brackenheart glanced at Minttooth, then narrowed his eyes bravely at Foxstar. "Ok…then. Thanks."

Foxstar said nothing, but pushed past the ThunderClan warriors and strode out of camp. "Come, Flintpaw."

Flintpaw was too stunned to move at first, but then his paws moved towards his mentor. This did _not_ sound like the Foxstar he knew… was something up? _I know he's not changed. I can see it…_

But Foxstar's stoic expression was impossible to read.

* * *

><p>Flintpaw continued with his training the rest of the day. Night had fallen quickly upon them, and he was getting ready for sleep. Foxstar had stopped his nightly watches on the apprentices, but they could not relax with Onyxpaw around, watching them carefully. No one, not even Cloudpaw, dared to say a word.<p>

Suddenly, a shadow appeared at the edge of the den. The pointed ears made it clear who it was.

"Flintpaw, come with me." It was Foxstar, of course.

Flintpaw resisted the urge to sigh loudly and scrambled up. "What's wrong?" he asked carefully.

"Don't ask questions." Foxstar padded out of camp, and Flintpaw had to run to catch up. "And be quiet!"

Flintpaw made his steps lighter.

"Be…very…quiet." Foxstar suddenly quickened his pace, and Flintpaw started to sprint, trying to keep his steps light.

A stink washed over him… ThunderClan. They were on ThunderClan territory.

_What for?_

In front of him, Foxstar skidded to a stop. Flintpaw nearly crashed into him. _I would be dead if I did!_

"Quiet!" Foxstar hissed. _Isn't that what I've been doing?_ The russet warrior plunged into some bushes. Flintpaw followed and crouched beside his mentor.

A ThunderClan patrol passed, consisting of some unfamiliar warriors.

"I smell ShadowClan," growled one tom.

"We can't worry about them," a she-cat said, "remember their leader!"

Flintpaw cast a quick glance towards Foxstar. The russet tom's eyes were narrowed, though his stoic expression remained. Silently, he pushed past Flintpaw and crawled through the bushes, opposite the way of the patrol. Flintpaw didn't ask any questions and followed, not sure where this was going.

Foxstar crawled out through a crack. Flintpaw followed, and found themselves on the edge of the ThunderClan gorge again, but at a different place. They picked their way down, and Flintpaw got a nasty feeling in his stomach.

"Wait here," Foxstar whispered, barely moving his lips. The russet warrior, his fur dyed dark brown in the moonlight, crawled forwards into the shadows and disappeared. Flintpaw waited, his heart pounding. What if they got caught?

Suddenly, Foxstar scrambled back, and caught Flintpaw in the scruff, and dragged him backwards into the darkness, pressed against the stone wall. Flintpaw didn't dare to breathe. A short while later, Brackenheart and Minttooth padded out, looking confused.

_I knew it. I knew something was up!_

"Stay…hidden…" Foxstar breathed. Flintpaw nodded vigorously, and Foxstar let go of him. Flintpaw pressed himself against the stone. Foxstar crouched.

"I don't see anyone," muttered Minttooth.

"Yeah, I thought someone called our names," Brackenheart meowed.

"Let's—" Minttooth began, but his statement was cut off as Foxstar shot out like a snake, slitting the gray tom's throat in a heartbeat.

Brackenheart gasped and backed away. "Y—"

His crumpled body lay next to Minttooth's.

"Quick!" hissed Foxstar at Flintpaw. "Get these bodies away!"

They hauled the bodies up the rocky slope and away into the bushes. Then, Foxstar lead Flintpaw back to camp without a word.

"Get rest," ordered Foxstar. Flintpaw padded to the den, feeling numb. He had just witnessed a murder! _StarClan, what's wrong with Foxstar? Is there _any_ good in him?_


	13. More Worth My Time

**Sorry about the ch. 12 and ch.9 mix-up. The new Chapter 12 is up, feel free to take a look! **

~Silentecho

* * *

><p>Warm light spilled into the apprentice's den. Onyxpaw groggily got up and stretched, yawning loudly.<p>

What did Foxstar want with Flintpaw last night? Was it another one of those mentor-apprentice situations? Onyxpaw felt a twinge of jealousy. Aspenheart never did anything special with _him_.

The dirty cream-and-white tom lay in the corner of the den, thrashing around. He looked uncomfortable, even in his sleep. Some was _really_ up. No other apprentices were in the den; only they were the two left.

Unsheathing his claws, Onyxpaw crept over to Flintpaw and jabbed him hard in the side. The apprentice didn't move. Onyxpaw gnashed his teeth—

"Onyxpaw? Is he all right?" a voice asked. It was Cloudpaw, Flintpaw's brother.

"Yeah, he looks tired," Onyxpaw replied, keeping his voice even.

"Well, okay," Cloudpaw meowed, "last night he came in looking really disturbed."

"Did he tell you anything?" asked Onyxpaw casually.

"No," Cloudpaw shrugged, "I didn't ask."

"Oh, okay," Onyxpaw meowed stoically, "I…hope he's going to be okay."

Cloudpaw nodded. "He should be, with Foxstar's training. Why don't you come outside? Aspenheart's probably waiting for you. I'm going to rouse Flintpaw."

"Oh, okay," Onyxpaw repeated. "Sure." He padded outside slowly, but stopped a few tail-lengths away from the den, prickling up his ears.

"Are you okay?" he heard Cloudpaw ask.

"Yeah….no," groaned Flintpaw from farther away. Onyxpaw leaned towards the conversation.

"What happened?" whispered Cloudpaw. Onyxpaw stretched his ears and inched back towards the den.

There was silence. Onyxpaw guessed that Flintpaw had shook his head in response.

"O-okay, then," Cloudpaw mewed. "See you later. You can always trust me to keep a secret."

Onyxpaw immediately sprinted out into the clearing as Cloudpaw padded out of the den.

"Here at last, Onyxpaw!" Aspenheart greeted cheerfully from the other side of the camp.

"I had something else to do," snapped Onyxpaw, brushing past his mentor.

"Who made dirt in your fresh-kill?" Aspenheart asked, backing away a little.

"Flintpaw," muttered Onyxpaw angrily.

* * *

><p>"That's it, Onyxpaw! Just be a little quicker!" Aspenheart called out patiently from the other side of the training hollow.<p>

"I'm being as quick as I can be," muttered Onyxpaw from under his breath.

"Aspenheart," a voice meowed behind them. Onyxpaw immediately stopped and whipped around. It was Foxstar, along with Flintpaw, their outlines sharp against the forest sunlight.

"H-hello, brother," Aspenheart greeted, dipping his head. "Flintpaw."

Flintpaw nodded respectfully. "Aspenheart. Onyxpaw."

Onyxpaw jerked his head irritably. "Foxstar. Flintpaw."

Foxstar ignored Onyxpaw and padded over to Aspenheart. "I was wondering if you could help me with a double attack on Flintpaw."

_What! He does to try a double attack!_ Thought Onyxpaw angrily. _That's not fair!_

"Sure, Foxstar," Aspenheart meowed.

"Come here, Flintpaw," drawled Foxstar, and the apprentice padded over. "We are going to do a double attack on you. Remember what I taught you."

Aspenheart and Foxstar both lunged at Flintpaw. Onyxpaw watched, jealousy bubbling within him, as Flintpaw lashed out at both of them, leaping high into the air and landing on both of their backs. Foxstar reared and threw Flintpaw off; the apprentice got up in a flash and swiped at Aspenheart, landing a blow on his chest.

Foxstar shot out, and for a moment Onyxpaw thought that Flintpaw was in for it. But Flintpaw seemed to be anticipating the move, because he immediately jumped aside and his claws raked Foxstar's flank. The warrior flew aside, landing neatly on all four paws.

"Stop." Foxstar commanded softly. All three of them bore wounds, Flintpaw with the most. "I want to see how Onyxpaw is doing…by going against Flintpaw."

_Yes! I finally get to beat that mangle-furred piece of fox-dung!_ _Time to show Foxstar who the true warrior is, _thought Onyxpaw. He padded to the center of the hollow. Clearly, Flintpaw needed rest. The cream-and-white tom was breathing raggedly and blood welled from some of his biggest wounds. Tufts of fur were missing, especially on his neck. Onyxpaw, on the other hand, was perfectly fine and energized.

"Go," Foxstar ordered softly, and Onyxpaw lunged towards Flintpaw. The other apprentice immediately crouched down and Onyxpaw shot over his head, landing on the hollow ground hard.

_Ouch._ His head spinning, Onyxpaw ran towards him again, but Flintpaw moved like the wind and landed a stinging blow on his flank. His side burning with pain, Onyxpaw lashed out at Flintpaw…and missed by two tail-lengths. Snarling in frustration, Onyxpaw leapt out at Flintpaw again and Flintpaw reared up and sank his claws into his shoulders, dragging him down onto the ground.

"I think we'd better stop before Onyxpaw dies," Foxstar meowed lazily, "and that wouldn't be good."

"I told you," snapped Aspenheart, "to be quicker. You wouldn't listen."

Onyxpaw didn't dare sass back with Foxstar in view, so he merely nodded.

"Weak," hissed Foxstar, while Flintpaw seemed to be struggling to hide the smug look on his face. Behind Foxstar's back, Onyxpaw scowled at him, baring his teeth. Flintpaw looked away.

"Perhaps you could help me, Foxstar?" Onyxpaw asked hopefully.

"Ask me when you are more worth my time," the russet warrior meowed coldly. He glared at Onyxpaw with no friendliness in his eyes. "Come, Flintpaw."

The two warriors disappeared into the forest.


	14. Onyxpaw Pays

"Flintpaw, just tell us what's going on!" Cloudpaw meowed, following Flintpaw around. Foxstar had chosen Flintpaw to lead a patrol—something an apprentice wouldn't usually do—and now Cloudpaw, Tigerthrorn, and Flintpaw were stalking around in the forest.

"Yeah, you can trust us," whispered Tigerthorn.

"Fine!" Flintpaw snapped, tired of his friends whining behind him. "You have to swear on StarClan to not tell anyone!"

"I swear on StarClan," Tigerthorn and Cloudpaw meowed solemnly. Flintpaw knew swearing on StarClan was a big oath—if it was broken, then you immediately got sent to the Dark Forest, or on rare occasions, StarClan.

"All right," Flintpaw began carefully, "remember Minttooth and Brackenheart?"

"Who could forget?" asked Tigerthorn bitterly.

"Any way," Flintpaw continued, "when we first visited ThunderClan, Foxstar seemed all cool with their ideas. _Too cool._ And then, in the night, he called me again and we went to ThunderClan camp. Then, he lured Minttooth and Brackenheart out into the clearing and killed them. I bet Beetlestar already suspects it. We went and hid them in the bushes. That's why he needed my help."

A long silence followed. Tigerthorn and Cloudpaw exchanged worried glances.

"Rest in StarClan," Tigerthorn finally meowed.

_Rest in StarClan indeed,_ thought Flintpaw miserably. _After all, you are finally free from Foxstar. _

* * *

><p>Onyxpaw glared at his reflection in the still, calm, flowing creek. <em>I had one chance to show off to Foxstar, and I blew it! How am I supposed to be a good warrior, when I'm not 'worth his time?'<em>

Angrily he swiped at his reflection, spraying water all over the grass. He sighed. He would never be as good and as favored as Flintpaw.

"Onyxpaw." A voice meowed behind him. Aspenheart, the last cat he wanted to see.

"What?" he asked impatiently, trying to keep his voice even. He didn't bother turning around. Though Onyxpaw was furious at the reddish brown tom, deep down he knew that Aspenheart was only trying to help. _It's not his fault._ Onyxpaw braced himself, waiting for another criticism from his mentor.

"Don't try to impress Foxstar."

Onyxpaw twisted his head around to look at Aspenheart. "I wasn't trying to," he lied.

"And I'm Thunderstar," snorted Aspenheart. "Listen to me, Onyxpaw. I know that you want to be as accepted and favored as Flintpaw. Doing that is not a good idea. But I cannot stop you. You do not receive the same amount of discipline, help, and training as Flintpaw does. You will have to work hard to achieve what you want… and when you get it, you may not like it. I am just trying to convince you not to go down the wrong path."

Onyxpaw frowned. "Why are you here?"

Aspenheart flicked his tail and looked up at the sky. "Foxstar does not allow communications between StarClan and any cat except Snowfreckle. I will go against my brother's law and take you to the Moonpool."

"The Moonpool?" asked Onyxpaw in bewilderment. "Where's that? What's that?"

"The Moonpool," replied Aspenheart in a hushed whisper, "is the only place where you can communicate with StarClan."

"Big whoop," Onyxpaw meowed in a bored voice, "who wants to meet a bunch of dead cats?"

Aspenheart cuffed Onyxpaw on the head roughly. "These bunch of dead cats have the wisdom of _ages_!" he hissed angrily. "I am giving you a one-time chance—take it or leave it!"

"Leave," Onyxpaw snorted. Aspenheart gave him a look of shock.

Then, abruptly, the reddish brown tom turned tail and bounded off into the forest, Onyxpaw looking after the one cat who, he now knew, cared about him.

* * *

><p>"What's up, Onyxpaw?" Jumpingpaw joined Onyxpaw as he dragged himself back from the creek.<p>

"Nothing!" growled Onyxpaw.

Jumpingpaw flattened his ears as Dawnpaw came padded along. "You don't have to be so harsh. I was just asking."

"Well, mind you own business, and leave me _alone_," growled Onyxpaw.

Jumpingpaw looked hurt, and Dawnpaw looked from one tom to the other. "Fine, then!" The tabby tom padded away and began to talk to Cloudpaw, his head in the air, tail straight.

"Jumpingpaw, wait—" Onyxpaw called out, feeling terrible. He felt even more down as Flintpaw slid out of the apprentices' den and joined Jumpingpaw and Cloudpaw.

"What's wrong with you?" snarled Dawnpaw.

"I'm just—" Onyxpaw began hopelessly.

"It's not all about you, you know," snapped Dawnpaw. "Stop worrying about yourself and look out for others! You're not the only one with feelings." With that, she stalked off, leaving Onyxpaw alone.

Again.

* * *

><p>The rain pounded onto the ground. The ShadowClan camp was silent, listening to the pitter patter. Flintpaw sat at the edge of the camp, feeling the chilliness of the rain smack his fur.<p>

Flintpaw never forgot about Thistlestar, and he didn't want to tell anyone about the mysterious black-and-white tom. He wanted Thistlestar to himself, to talk to. So far, however, Thistlestar had not paid Flintpaw another visit.

Foxstar had stopped his daily walks in the forest, and spent more time training Flintpaw. Flintpaw noticed that he had become one of Foxstar's favorites, and the other warriors who claimed they were Foxstar's accomplices, like Raggedlion and Wolftail, had started shooting glares of contempt at Flintpaw.

Others continued to tread carefully around Flintpaw like he was Foxstar himself, which, he tried to convince, he was not. They usually avoided his gaze, or when he started to approach and try to talk to them they made up some kind of lame excuse to leave. The only friends he had were Cloudpaw and Tigerthorn, and occasionally, Spottedtuft.

The remainder of the Clan seemed sympathetic to him, especially the elders. Their faces constantly lit up when he padded in to change their den; Sheepfoot had proclaimed him to be the "best apprentice he had ever seen."

What was strange was that he had never seen the medicine cat, Snowfreckle. Her name had been brought up once or twice, and that was it. Stonepaw, who many claimed to be her apprentice, was missing, too. Were they dead? Cloudpaw had meowed loudly that they were to have another medicine cat if they were, earning them a hard stare from Wolftail (thankfully, Foxstar was away), before Flintpaw ushered him nervously away (he had apologized to Wolftail and tried to ask him about the two medicine cats, but Wolftail didn't say anything). Foxstar had announced that the medicine cats' den was strictly off limits, and no one was to go in there at any given time. Of course, everyone obliged and the mysterious, empty hollow was left untouched.

"Flintpaw," a voice meowed behind him. Foxstar.

"Y-yes, Foxstar?" asked Flintpaw.

"I will explain something to you," Foxstar drawled. "Come walk with me in the forest."

Flintpaw couldn't see where this was going; fearfully, he followed Foxstar out of the camp amid silent stares and glares.

Foxstar walked briskly, and Flintpaw struggled to keep up. Soon, Flintpaw heard the busy rushing of the creek. Then, the Twoleg path curved and they arrived at a Twoleg bridge. Underneath them, the creek flowed noisily, the raindrops splashing into it. Flintpaw tried to shake himself, but more rain fell.

The bridge below them was a strange color; most of it was a light brownish cream color (beige), while one portion was a dark reddish brown.

Foxstar traced his white-tipped tail down a part of the reddish brown part. "You see the blood?" he asked softly.

Flintpaw gave a jerk. _That's blood! Who's blood?_

"Thistlestar died right here."

"Th-Thistlestar?" stammered Flintpaw.

"Yes," Foxstar replied softly. "His blood will remain here forever, a reminder of what a soft-hearted fool he was."

Flintpaw gulped.

"You don't know who he was, I presume?" Foxstar asked softly.

"I—no," Flintpaw stammered. _I can't let him know about my dream._

But it was too late. Flintpaw saw the menacing glint in his mentor's fiery amber eyes. "Thistlestar," Foxstar continued quietly, for even the pitter patter of the rain was louder than him, and Flintpaw had to strain to listen, "was the preceding leader."

"Wh-what happened?" asked Flintpaw, terrified of the answer.

"He made a terrible mistake." Foxstar continued to touch the blood-stained bridge with his tail.

"What kind of mistake?"

"Foxstar," Foxstar meowed, his eyes trained on the blood.

"What kind of mistake, _Foxstar_?" Flintpaw asked again.

Foxstar was silent for a moment. "I was the rightful deputy," he murmured, slurring the words. "And instead he picked Aspenheart."

"So you killed him, Foxstar?" asked Flintpaw, a terrible, empty feeling in his gut.

"Yes," Foxstar replied. "The world is hard on you sometimes, Flintpaw. You will have to work to achieve what you want, and sometimes the method can be…painful."

_It's not all about you, you know._ "And you made Aspenheart the deputy. May I ask what is the reason for that decision, Foxstar?" Flintpaw asked respectfully.

Foxstar was silent again, this time gazing out into the rushing creek. "Aspenheart is my brother, and I see no reason to stop him from being deputy. I have achieved my desire, and there is no need to harm any more cats."

"Perhaps there would've been a better way? When Thistlestar, er, joined StarClan, then Aspenheart would become leader and you, deputy?"

"Right you are. But quicker is better, and I still got what I want, earlier, hm?" Foxstar's eyes glinted.

"Yes, yes," Flintpaw meowed quickly.

But as Foxstar talked, Flintpaw began to realize that he was, perhaps, in the truest sense, correct. Yes, the russet tom was a little crazy and continuously shed blood, but it all paid off in the end, didn't it? And the idea to make the Clan 'pure'—that was a good idea too, because really, who wanted traitors and half-breeds in the Clan any way?


	15. The Darkness

Flintpaw stalked in to camp, followed by Cloudpaw.

"Flintpaw, what's up?" the white tom meowed excitedly. "You seem to have that glint in your eyes."

"Cloudpaw, I understand now!" Flintpaw told Cloudpaw with the same eagerness.

"Understand what?"

"What's this news I hear about?" Whitestag and Silverbriar joined them. Flintpaw looked around. Foxstar, Raggedlion, Wolftail, and Hawksplash were away.

"I understand about Foxstar's ideas now!" Flintpaw meowed.

The others exchanged a look. "Does this mean that you…agree with them?" Silverbriar asked cautiously.

"Succinctly, yes," Flintpaw concluded.

Whitestag suddenly recoiled, a horrified look on his face. "Flintpaw, how could you! I thought we raised you better!"

"I believe what I think is right," Flintpaw said firmly, a hard glint in his eyes, "not what you think is right."

"But what you think is right is wrong," Cloudpaw whispered, visibly shuddering.

"Well, that's a matter of opinion," retorted Flintpaw.

Silverbriar's eyes flashed. "Well then, Flintpaw! If you think killing off innocent warriors is a good idea, then don't ever talk to us again!" with that, she marched off with Whitestag. After a while, Cloudpaw silently shook his head sadly and padded away, leaving Flintpaw standing there, wondering what he'd done wrong.

* * *

><p>"Onyxpaw." A voice meowed. Onyxpaw opened his eyes.<p>

"Where am I?" he gasped. He was standing in a meadow, a warm breeze ruffling his fur. In front of him stood a black-and-white tom.

"My name is Thistlestar," the tom meowed.

"Who are you?" Onyxpaw asked rudely. Thistlestar had stars in his fur; he must be a StarClan warrior. What business did this old dead cat have with him?

"I was the preceding leader. I ruled before Foxstar, murdered by him."

"He's so horrible," Onyxpaw spilled out. "I didn't realize that at first, but now I do." Thistlestar was a cat Onyxpaw felt like he could trust.

Thistlestar nodded. "I know, believe me. One cat I met felt the same way too, before."

"Before?" Onyxpaw asked, confused. "Who?"

"That, you must find out yourself," Thistlestar meowed gently. "I am here to deliver a message."

"Go on," Onyxpaw pressed. He tried not to get too impatient; this was one cat who was willing to talk to him, and he wasn't about to let him go.

"The fox of the stars will be crushed under the strength of the rock, and the boulder of the night will perish by the fury of the hawk," meowed Thistlestar mysteriously.

"What?" Onyxpaw was confused.

"I must go now," Thistlestar mewed urgently. "If you ever want to talk to me… follow the Great Bear and move towards the Icewind star."

* * *

><p>Thistlestar's cryptic message never left Onyxpaw's head. <em>The fox of the stars will be crushed under the strength of the rock, and the boulder of the night will perish by the fury of the hawk. <em>It echoed constantly, distracting him from his training and causing Aspenheart to be more frustrated with him than ever. Still, Aspenheart wouldn't talk to him unless he had to and Jumpingpaw and Dawnpaw mostly shot glares at him from the other side of the apprentice's den, and they were missing, along with warriors like Raggedlion, Jaggedleaf, Wolftail, and Hawksplash.

"Hey, Onyxpaw," Flintpaw greeted. Onyxpaw looked up from his small mouse.

"What?" Onyxpaw meowed grumpily.

"I know that you admire Foxstar, and we would like you to join The Darkness, a group of warriors who follow along Foxstar?"

"No," Onyxpaw snapped, "I don't need anyone."

"We're a _Clan_," argued Flintpaw. "If you don't need anyone, I don't see why you're still here. You're no better than a loner. Come join the Darkness, your _new_ family."

Onyxpaw paused. Yes, they would be an annoying family, but surely, that was better than no one at all. At least cats would stop sneering at him like he was an outsider. And, if he proved himself to be as good as the rest of them…. Well, that would solve everything!

"Yes," he meowed solemnly, "I would like to join."


	16. Onyxpaw's Thoughts

The first thing Onyxpaw noticed when he returned from patrol was that most of The Darkness was missing, along with Foxstar.

"Where is Raggedlion?" he asked Scorchwhisker casually.

Scorchwhisker shrugged uncomfortably. "I don't know," he whispered, "he and a couple of other warriors went on patrol."

"Oh," Onyxpaw meowed, instantly knowing where they were. When he had joined The Darkness, Flintpaw had showed them their secret hideout. "Okay, thanks."

Onyxpaw padded out of camp quickly, turned left, walking down the forest path. Then, as the Twoleg path curved, he could hear the rushing of the creek, along with Foxstar's quiet voice.

The Darkness warriors stood gathered at a Twoleg bridge. Warriors like Raggedlion, Jaggedleaf, Flintpaw, Wolftail, and Hawksplash he had expected to see, but not others like Stormfurze, Pikepounce, Larchflight, Pearshade, Sunfury, Copperstorm, Maplefur, Brightcloud, and Raintail were there, too.

Onyxpaw squeezed in between Copperstorm and Raintail at the back of the group. The creek flowed noisily behind them, and the bridge beneath Onyxpaw was stained a dark reddish-brown color. Blood? Onyxpaw shivered at the thought.

"….this concludes our first meeting," drawled Foxstar. Onyxpaw's head snapped up; he had just missed the message of the first meeting! Asking others would be too suspicious and embarrassing; perhaps he could privately ask Flintpaw later.

"I think it's going to be a long-term thing," Hawksplash was saying to Brightcloud next to Onyxpaw.

"Knowing Foxstar, not that long," Brightcloud replied, her tail swishing.

"I think he'll recruit other cats from other Clans, too," Larchflight was mewing to Pikepounce on Onyxpaw's other side.

"Yeah, I know some warriors who would be keen to join," Pikepounce replied. "Just think; we'll be stronger than all of the warriors in the forest!"

Onyxpaw hurried to catch up to Flintpaw, who had just bade Wolftail good-bye and was padding off to the side, a smug look on his face.

"Flintpaw?" Onyxpaw asked cautiously.

"Hm?" the cream-and-white apprentice seemed to be deep in thought, and Onyxpaw didn't want to get snapped at.

"I only just got back from patrol. What did we do?"

"Oh, not much. Foxstar explained what we would be doing…"

"Which is…?" Onyxpaw pressed, but Flintpaw had narrowed his eyes and was staring ahead, deep in thought, as the other warriors dispersed into patrols.

Onyxpaw sighed. Had he made a mistake in joining The Darkness?

* * *

><p>"Onyxpaw?" Flintpaw padded up.<p>

"What?" snapped Onyxpaw, in a particularly bad mood after a long training session with Aspenheart. The reddish brown tom avoided his gaze and spoke with a new air of impatience.

Flintpaw drew back, his eyes narrowed. "I was just going to tell you that the Gathering's tonight and Foxstar wants you to come. Unless you don't want to, I can always tell him."

_I can't make myself seem weak,_ Onyxpaw thought. _Not any weaker than I seem now._ "Of course I will go," he meowed arrogantly. "I won't miss it for all the mice in the forest."

Flintpaw nodded. "Good."

_Just because you're Foxstar's apprentice,_ Onyxpaw thought angrily, _doesn't mean you can sass around like that._ But he said nothing and merely nodded.

* * *

><p>"Warriors, please get ready for the Gathering," Foxstar meowed quietly. "Wolftail will report anything to me while I am gone." The silvery tom was staying behind.<p>

Onyxpaw followed the stream of warriors out of camp: Aspenheart, Flintpaw, Foxstar, Pikepounce, Ashwhisker, Cloudpaw, Jumpingpaw, Dawnpaw, Kinkwhisker, Raggedlion, Stormfurze, Pearshade, and Badgerfang.

When they arrived at the Gathering, all of the other Clans were already there. Immediately, the ShadowClan warriors dispersed among the other warriors. Onyxpaw had not been to a Gathering since his very first one (before Foxstar declared him "unworthy of his time).

Onyxpaw padded to the front of the large group, desperate to make himself shown. He looked around. There, at the very base of the Great Oak, were three cats. He hadn't noticed them at his first Gathering; he was at the back.

"Who are they?" he asked Kinkwhisker quietly.

"Medicine cats," the she-cat replied stiffly, before turning away.

_I've never seen our medicine cat,_ he thought, _I don't even know who he or she is._ He didn't want to ask Kinkwhisker again; she kind of hated him already. Almost everyone did; he was the outcast of the Clan.

Onyxpaw sat quietly by himself, occasionally listening in on the gossip the warriors around him told; none of Foxstar's "abuse of the Clan" complaints left the ShadowClan's warrior's mouths; they were too afraid. _And the smart ones know that he's right._

"Greetings, Onyxpaw," a voice meowed from behind him. He turned around. It was Flintpaw, flanked by two warriors Onyxpaw didn't recognize.

"Hello," he meowed uncomfortably. Why did Flintpaw seem to keep weaving around him?

"Onyxpaw, this is Foamwhisker and Treespirit, of RiverClan and ThunderClan respectively. Foamwhisker, Treespirit, this is Onyxpaw," Flintpaw meowed carelessly, flicking his tail in the other warriors' faces, who hissed and jumped back. "They have agreed to join The Darkness."

Onyxpaw got a chill down his back, but he greeted back nonetheless: "hello, Foamwhisker, Treespirit."

"You're Aspenheart's apprentice, right?" the white tom, Foamwhisker, meowed rudely.

"Yeah," Onyxpaw meowed casually, trying to sound cool. "So?"

"I don't think he likes you," Treespirit cut in.

"Well, I don't like him," Onyxpaw retorted back, liking the warriors less and less by the minute.

Treespirit looked up and down with disdain in his green eyes, which contrasted with his bark-brown pelt. "You're not a very good apprentice, are you?"

"So what?" hissed Onyxpaw.

"So you're not going to be a very good warrior," Foamwhisker hissed back, stepping a bit closer. The broad chested tom towered over Onyxpaw, who struggled to meet his challenging blue gaze with confidence.

"Well, Aspenheart isn't a very good mentor," Onyxpaw countered lamely.

"I like Aspenheart," Treespirit meowed quietly. "Are you saying that you don't like your own Clanmates?"

"And therefore you're not a loyal warrior of ShadowClan?" Foamwhisker added, a hardness in his voice.

"N-no," Onyxpaw stammered, truly scared now.

"You know Foxstar doesn't like traitors," snarled Treespirit in Onyxpaw's face. His white teeth gleamed in the moonlight.

"All right, Adderstar's stepped forward," drawled Flintpaw lazily, "let's leave Onyxpaw alone now."

The three toms disappeared into the crowd. Onyxpaw glanced up at Adderstar, the leader of WindClan. He quickly looked down; Foxstar was staring back at him from his position behind Swiftstar of RiverClan.

_Crazy toms,_ he thought, grateful that his thoughts were one thing that was private. He directed his attention to Adderstar.

"WindClan is flourishing," the mottled tom began, with a quick backwards glance towards the rest of the leaders. "Please welcome a new apprentice, Morningpaw."

Onyxpaw couldn't see Morningpaw, but he chanted right along; he was aware that Foxstar was still looking at him through narrowed eyes.

Beetlestar stepped forward. "ThunderClan is also doing well," he muttered, and Onyxpaw had to strain his ears to listen. _How can the cats in the back hear?_ "There was a dog, but we chased it off. I don't remember which way it ran, but I advise ShadowClan and WindClan to watch their backs."

Murmurs spread throughout the group.

"More trouble," Onyxpaw heard a WindClan warrior sigh to a RiverClan warrior.

Foxstar stood up, and the crowd immediately quieted. The russet tom strutted forward as Beetlestar dipped his head and retreated to the back of the Oak.

"ShadowClan is… prospering," he meowed, his deep voice making the words sound slurred. He was even quieter than Beetlestar, but the clearing was so quiet that Onyxpaw could hear him loud and clear. "We have not seen any signs of dogs, but we will watch out and kill it for all of the Clans' sake."

Swiftstar, the last leader, nodded slowly, and cautiously wove around Foxstar as he retreated into the shadows of the Oak, his amber eyes glowing dangerously in the dark.

"RiverClan is doing well, too," Swiftstar announced. "Please welcome the new warriors Robinfeather and Willowsplash."

"Robinfeather! Willowsplash!" the Clans chanted.

"This meeting is at an end," Beetlestar concluded, and the leaders jumped off the Oak, leading their Clans away. Onyxpaw trailed at the end of the ShadowClan line, head down.

* * *

><p>Onyxpaw padded into the camp, wearing after another long and awkward training session with Aspenheart. His relationship with his mentor wasn't going any better, and Jumpingpaw and Dawnpaw still avoided him. Even Fallenshadow and Logpelt didn't meet his gaze.<p>

In the beginning of his life he had not made many friends, except maybe Jumpingpaw, Dawnpaw, and Cloudpaw, but now his littermates were avoiding him and he rarely saw Cloudpaw. Being alone had its sad moments, with the other Darkness members casting leering and derisive looks at him. Other times, it gave him time to think about many things.

First of all, he had never seen the medicine Snowfreckle or her so-called apprentice Stonepaw. Warriors in ShadowClan rarely got sick, Onyxpaw noticed, so the medicine cat must've had it easy when she was here. _Or was there really one in the first place?_

Second, he had noticed that Whitestag and Silverbriar seemed to be shunning their youngest son Flintpaw. They glared at him every time he was strutting around with high-ranked members of The Darkness (really, he was considered one, too) like Raggedlion and Hawksplash.

Speaking of Flintpaw, he had watched his colleague ever since he was born. Flintpaw had an aura of great ego, at first internal, then gradually he began to show it. When he was first training with Foxstar, Onyxpaw had observed, his steps were cautious and uncertain. Gradually, as he realized that he could get away with more, he became more stuck-up and arrogant. Lazy, too. It wasn't fair. He had received good training from Foxstar, while he, Onyxpaw, was sloppily trained by what he considered to be one of the worst warriors in the Clan. _Just because Aspenheart's Foxstar's brother doesn't mean he's a good warrior like Foxstar. I bet even Sheepfoot the elder can beat Aspenheart._ Although Onyxpaw never had a real, head-on fight with his mentor, he still thought him to be weak.

_I just have to figure out a way to get myself to the top,_ Onyxpaw thought, _or else my dignity will be lost all together. I have to work to get what I want… even if I have to defy the warrior code. That's what Foxstar did, didn't he? And he still became a great leader._


	17. The Tragic Deaths

The more Onyxpaw watched Flintpaw swagger around, the more annoyed he got. Flintpaw seemed to be talking to his _new_ friends of The Darkness more than his other friends Spottedtuft, Tigerthorn, and Cloudpaw. Cloudpaw seemed to be not talking to Flintpaw either, but the cream-and-white tom didn't seem to care.

_Well, I don't, either,_ Onyxpaw meowed to himself firmly, but truthfully, he really did.

"Terrible, isn't it?" a voice meowed quietly from behind him. Foxstar was talking to Raggedlion and Flintpaw. The Darkness warriors were talking and chatting quietly (most of the warriors didn't seem to know about The Darkness; the members seemed to know who actually followed and didn't follow Foxstar's beliefs; on patrols, Aspenheart always put some Darkness and some non-Darkness warriors together), the Clan seeming like ThunderClan; happy and content, relaxed and familiar. Onyxpaw didn't want to look at the other warriors' faces; mostly, they kept their heads down or avoided his gaze.

Onyxpaw jumped. It was Whitestag, Flintpaw's father.

"What is?" he meowed rudely.

"Our son," Whitestag meowed sadly. "We didn't raise him like this, but I guess cats will grow up and follow what they believe is right. We can't stop Flintpaw, but I just hope he doesn't go on to be another Foxstar."

* * *

><p>Onyxpaw soon found comfort in Whitestag and Silverbriar, even though they were Flintpaw's parents; he even started to talk to Cloudpaw. The white tom wasn't as bad as Flintpaw, which was good.<p>

"I'm really worried," Cloudpaw had meowed to Onyxpaw one day, "I think he has the wrong idea."

"Yeah," Onyxpaw interjected impatiently. _Can't we talk about something other than Flintpaw?_ Cloudpaw was annoying, but he was one of the only cats who would talk to him. "Aspenheart's so mean. I wish that I got another mentor."

"Whitestag's okay," Cloudpaw meowed.

"He doesn't even talk to me," Onyxpaw continued, as if he hadn't heard Cloudpaw. "I'm like, trying as hard as I can and he just nods!"

Cloudpaw shrugged. "Maybe everything isn't all about you."

* * *

><p>Onyxpaw watched The Darkness warriors carefully; so far, Foxstar did not call for another meeting, as far as he knew. Flintpaw padded around with the other senior Darkness warriors, their heads down. Whatever they were conspiring, Onyxpaw wasn't included, which made him feel like even more of an outcast.<p>

Although Onyxpaw did not like Flintpaw or Cloudpaw, he did start to find Whitestag and Silverbriar to be interesting warriors. They both shared his dislike of Flintpaw; he could see it every time they padded past him. Flintpaw now threw around an air of arrogance whenever he walked around. Indeed, Onyxpaw thought, he was becoming a second Foxstar.

"Are you hungry, Onyxpaw?" Whitestag asked gently as he padded up. Onyxpaw sat alone in the shadows of the willow, along the creek side outside of camp.

"Not really," Onyxpaw huffed. "I don't have a mouse in front of me, do I?"

Whitestag sat down beside Onyxpaw, and stared out into the rushing creek. "Somewhere, the blood of Thistlestar runs in this water."

Onyxpaw felt a jolt down his back. Thistlestar was that weird cat who had told him the prophecy. Did he _die_ here? Did Foxstar kill him himself?

Whitestag confirmed Onyxpaw's thoughts. "Foxstar himself killed Thistlestar, the preceding leader."

Onyxpaw was afraid to glance at Whitestag for saying such a bold thing, even though everyone seemed to know. "Why?"

"To become leader himself," Whitestag replied simply.

Onyxpaw shivered.

"Now," Whitestag said calmly, "let's head back."

The two warriors returned to the camp, unaware of the rock beside them moving; the cat's pelt seemed to blend right in to the boulder, as if he were a part of the flint himself.

* * *

><p>Whitestag continued to talk to Onyxpaw, who was afraid for the old tom. Whitestag constantly rambled about the "misleading of Foxstar" these days, and talked rather loudly. Onyxpaw had to drag him away from camp.<p>

He could tell that he himself wasn't trusted among The Darkness members; in the second meeting, where Foxstar hinted that they were about to start something (Onyxpaw had missed part of the meeting again due to Aspenheart's extra-long training session), he was pushed to the back and leered at by the other warriors. Still, he had his pride to keep, and he could be proud to say that he was "one of Foxstar's most devoted followers" and that he was a powerful warrior among ShadowClan, even if he truly wasn't.

Although Whitestag and Silverbriar were Flintpaw's parents, Onyxpaw found a new kind of comfort with them. They treated him like their own son and gradually, he began to like them like his own kin.

"You be careful out there," Whitestag croaked as Onyxpaw headed out on patrol with Hawksplash and Thornsplash, "you never know what they might be up to…."

Onyxpaw hurried away before Whitestag could continue. _He's getting old,_ Onyxpaw thought, _and he probably can't control himself. He just blabbers all day about Foxstar. He's going to get killed._ _I think even Sheepfoot is younger than him. _

"Hurry up, Onyxpaw!" Hawksplash growled.

"I'm moving my paws!" snapped Onyxpaw.

"Well, move them faster!" Hawksplash snarled.

"I _can't_!" Onyxpaw lied. He didn't want to get too close to Hawksplash; the tabby tom had always scared him.

"Don't sass around with me," Hawksplash growled, "and get over here! We're wasting time."

Onyxpaw sneered at Hawksplash and picked up the pace, bumping into Hawksplash's shoulder arrogantly as he padded past and took the lead.

* * *

><p>When the patrol returned from camp, the rest of the Clan was in a silent circle. Foxstar's quiet voice rang throughout the camp.<p>

"You see," he murmured quietly, "this is what happens when I find traitors inside my own Clan."

Onyxpaw shoved past Raintail and Appleclaw, squeezing in between Flintpaw and Cloudpaw. Foxstar was standing beside Raggedlion, both whom seemed to be blocking something. The Clan gathered around in a tight circle. Everyone was quiet.

Foxstar stepped away and Raggedlion moved aside. Onyxpaw stifled a gasp. On the ground lay Whitestag and Silverbriar, their throats brutally slashed. He heard Cloudpaw give a very quiet yet audible cry. Onyxpaw stole a glance at Flintpaw, but the cream-and-white tom remained stoic.

_How could they?_ Onyxpaw thought despairingly. _They were my….my only friends. _

"I want Wolftail and Pearshade to move the bodies to the spot," Foxstar meowed quietly, and Onyxpaw knew that "the spot" meant the blood-soaked bridge. _Perhaps that is Thistlestar's blood. And now Whitestag and Silverbriar will join him in StarClan. Rest in peace._

The rest of the Clan dispersed. Flintpaw watched as the two warriors dragged the bodies away.

"They were your parents," Onyxpaw meowed quietly to him.

Flintpaw turned to him, a tight feeling in his chest. He felt guilty for tipping Foxstar off about his own father. Still, he replied, "they were traitors to ShadowClan. Are you a traitor?"

"N-no," Onyxpaw stammered.

Flintpaw nodded. "Good." Even though Whitestag and Silverbriar had stopped talking to him, there was an empty feeling in his heart. He had hoped that they would see the rights and wrongs of everything and side with him one day. Now, that chance was gone forever. He was truly alone.

"I must meet with the Darkness," he meowed quietly, so that only Onyxpaw could hear. They were planning for the big event… "they are the only family I have now."

* * *

><p><strong>I just want to say that each "section" in the story is two moons apart from the others. So two moons passed each time there was a new scene change. <strong>

** ~Silentecho**


	18. Not Too Easy To Impress

Flintpaw did not feel any better now that Whitestag and Silverbriar were gone; he had to survive on his own now. He had always loved curling up next to Silverbriar in the nursery and sleeping; she made him feel safe, all those times that Foxstar was near, she protected him. And now she was gone.

Whitestag was the first to shun him, but he was still his father. He had always seemed like the ray of light in Foxstar's aura of darkness. And now, both his father and mother were gone.

_I feel like I've grown up early. _

"The Darkness is holding another meeting," growled Wolftail, stalking up. "Unless you aren't going to hurry up—"

"Of course I'm going," Flintpaw interrupted coldly, and stood up, shoving past Wolftail carelessly.

"Do you miss Whitestag and Silverbriar?" sneered Wolftail as he caught up with Flintpaw.

"No," Flintpaw snarled. It was a bit of a lie. "They did the wrong thing, talking dirty about Foxstar like that. I admit, I'm the one who _told_ Foxstar."

_Who am I trying to convince?_ He thought suddenly.

He padded past Onyxpaw, who was looking at him in shock. Flintpaw flicked his ears in an arrogant greeting.

"That's good, knowing you're loyal to what is right," Wolftail meowed casually.

"I'm always going to be loyal to Foxstar," Flintpaw growled back, "that's a promise."

Wolftail nodded. "Good. Now, let's hurry up or else Foxstar will chew us out."

* * *

><p>"We have some new warriors," Foxstar meowed in a monotone, "joining us."<p>

"From ThunderClan," Raggedlion announced, "Talonstrike, Treespirit, and Mallowfur."

Flintpaw had spoken with Treespirit before at Gatherings, for he was the one who had recruited Treespirit. The cat wasn't very affable, but seemed to think along the same lines as Foxstar and the rest of The Darkness.

"From RiverClan," Wolftail yowled, "Foamwhisker, Brightgorse, and Redstorm."

_Ah, Foamwhisker,_ Flintpaw thought. Foamwhisker wasn't very nice either, with a nursery bully attitude. He didn't trust the white tom at all.

"And from WindClan," Jaggedleaf meowed, "Talloak, Morningpaw, and Boulderclaw."

_Talloak's the deputy!_ Flintpaw thought. _Adderstar better watch out for his life—or lives. And isn't Morningpaw the new apprentice? I'm pretty sure her mentor Boulderclaw took her here. _

"Welcome," Foxstar meowed quietly, stepping forward, "to The Darkness. We will meet every end of the quarter-moon."

Something shoved Flintpaw aside, and he saw that it was Onyxpaw. The black tom's eyes were narrowed, and he was staring at Foxstar like the rest of them.

"Sorry," he muttered.

Flintpaw hissed softly in annoyance and looked back towards Foxstar. The russet warrior was looking right at him. He flattened his ears. _Oops._

Flintpaw was not as scared of his mentor as before. Foxstar seemed to see Flintpaw as some kind of warrior-apprentice, and let him get away with things that regular warriors got punished for (Sootfang had been killed a moon ago for blaspheming The Darkness). Although, like everyone, he was nervous and uncomfortable talking directly to the russet warrior, Flintpaw did not feel the kind of heart-pounding nervousness as before.

_Maybe it's because I understand what he's doing and why, so I'm not as afraid as before._

"Thank you all for following my ideas," Foxstar meowed curtly, his tail flicking back and forth. Flintpaw pressed closer to the front, and he felt Onyxpaw follow him. _Annoying furball!_

Foxstar was sitting on the blood-stained part of the bridge; he always did. Flintpaw listened solemnly as he explained his plan.

"I'm afraid this won't work," Onyxpaw whispered from behind. Flintpaw flattened his ears in annoyance and bunched his shoulders, but he turned around.

"Then leave," he hissed, "and maybe you'll live."

Onyxpaw's eyes widened and he backed away a bit, tail in between his legs, his yellow eyes wide. "I never said I didn't think it was _wrong_!"

_Who're you trying to convince?_ Instead, he turned back and muttered under his breath, "then shut up and listen."

* * *

><p>"Curse the Forest," muttered Flintpaw as he saw Onyxpaw approach him. Although the black tom wasn't very annoying in a way Cloudpaw had been (then again, he was his brother), he was certainly clingy. A number of lame excuses chased each other around Flintpaw's mind, him trying to find the best way to shake Onyxpaw off.<p>

"Hello," he muttered as Onyxpaw padded up.

"Hi," Onyxpaw greeted cheerfully, puffing out his chest. _So you want to seem important? Well, too bad, you're not._ Now, he realized what Onyxpaw was trying to do. _What a sycophant. _He was trying to appease Flintpaw, who he must've thought was a "high-ranking Darkness warrior", to get himself to a top position.

"What do you want?" asked Flintpaw sneeringly. If Onyxpaw was going to use him, then he might as well not let him.

"J-just to say hi," Onyxpaw stammered, "and maybe ask if you would like to go hunting with me?"

Flintpaw shrugged. "Okay," he meowed casually. "Let Hawksplash come, too, then."

Flintpaw's suspicions about Onyxpaw appeasing him were confirmed as he saw Onyxpaw's eyes light up in excitement that another senior Darkness warrior was coming along.

"Great!" he meowed a little two cheerfully. "We'll be three Darkness warriors hunting together," he added as Flintpaw fell into step with him.

_You're certainly not a warrior yet, _Flintpaw thought, _certainly not in Foxstar's eyes, or anyone else's. _

"Hawksplash!" Onyxpaw called across. The camp was now more talkative, with the Darkness warriors confidently jabbering away and the other warriors cautiously talking about non-Foxstar related stuff.

The large tabby bounded over. Flintpaw didn't trust him any more than he did with Treespirit or Foamwhisker (in fact, he didn't really trust anyone, except for Cloudpaw, but now Cloudpaw had deserted him too. One of the things he had learned from Foxstar was to trust no one but yourself—therefore, you didn't have to worry about someone else spilling your innermost secrets. It seemed perfectly logical).

Onyxpaw padded forward excitedly to lead the patrol, and Flintpaw glanced at Hawksplash, who tipped his head towards Onyxpaw. _Let him lead. _Flintpaw nodded. _If he really wants to show how "great" he is, then we'll mess him up._

"I smell mouse, do you smell mouse?" asked Onyxpaw after a while.

"I've smelled it since we headed out," Hawksplash meowed arrogantly, "I don't see why you didn't."

Onyxpaw flattened his ears, and muttered something.

"Go get it, then," Flintpaw meowed with an air of impatience, "if you think you can."

Onyxpaw looked mildly annoyed, perhaps because this wasn't going the way he wanted it to go. "Of course," he meowed curtly, and stalked off. Hawksplash smirked and flicked his tail. Flintpaw huffed in an arrogantly amused manner.

A short while later, Onyxpaw returned with the mouse. Hawksplash flicked his ears. "What took you so long?"

"You two didn't get anything," Onyxpaw snapped back.

"Ah, but we thought you could get it," Flintpaw meowed lazily.

Onyxpaw scowled through his mouse and padded forward. "What now?"

"You decide," retorted Hawksplash.

"But I thought you were the high-ranking Darkness warriors," Onyxpaw meowed loftily, dropping the mouse.

_Fox-head_, thought Flintpaw.

"Well, we're giving you a chance," Hawksplash immediately shot back.

"Okay, then," Onyxpaw shrugged. "I suggest we hunt some more."

"Fine with me." Hawksplash got up and stretched. "I'm going off, then. Let's split up, we'll cover more distance. Coming, Flintpaw?"

"Sure," Flintpaw meowed immediately, standing up and walking over to Hawksplash.

"You just said split—"

But Flintpaw and Hawksplash had already disappeared into the woods.

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry about the late update; I've been rather busy lately, with my orchestra auditions coming up. When I'm done stressing over it, I'll update sooner. Sorry again! Thanks for all the reviews and views! Keep them going! <strong>

** ~Silentecho**


	19. Larkspring Copies Blossomshine

Onyxpaw padded back to camp by himself. _Okay, that did not go well._ He was only going to try to make friends with Flintpaw and Hawksplash, and okay, _maybe_ get a little more respect from them by showing him his skills, which he had just proved he had none.

Dropping his small mouse on the fresh-kill pile, he retreated into the shadows, like he did every day.

Flintpaw and Hawksplash returned a while later, jaws laden with prey. They threw them carelessly onto the pile and disappeared into the bushes behind the Tall Oak, their heads together.

Aspenheart padded past. Desperate for someone to talk to, Onyxpaw stood up and quietly followed him.

"Aspenheart?"

"Hm?" the reddish brown tom turned around. "Oh, it's you, Onyxpaw. Hello." Aspenheart refused to meet Onyxpaw's gaze. The two _still_ hadn't made up yet, and Onyxpaw had already forgotten what they'd argued about in the first place. He didn't see Aspenheart often anymore, and usually another warrior took him out to train.

"I… I'm sorry." Onyxpaw spilled out, swallowing his pride.

Aspenheart narrowed his eyes and stared at him silently.

"For being so insolent to you," Onyxpaw continued. "You're a great warrior, don't get me wrong. It's just that…. I got the wrong perspective."

"On what?"

"All of this. You know," Onyxpaw meowed nervously, glancing around. "Darkness, Foxstar…."

Aspenheart was silent again, and Onyxpaw's heart pounded. Would his mentor forgive him? _What if he doesn't? How do I become a warrior?_

"Noticed," Aspenheart meowed at last, and Onyxpaw exhaled, not aware that he had been holding his breath the entire time.

"Thank you," Onyxpaw replied, his heart lightening.

"Now," Aspenheart continued, "shall we go train?"

* * *

><p>"Pause!" shrieked Aspenheart. "Let me examine your stance…"<p>

Onyxpaw resisted the urge to snap back and kept himself in the attack crouch while Aspenheart padded around him, criticizing.

"Your tail is too low," the reddish brown warrior said. "The enemy could get your from behind. Keep it high. Also, your flanks could be a little flatter. When it's too tipped up, it takes more muscle and strength to stand up straight again, and that isn't good when you're about to lunge."

"All right." Onyxpaw adjusted his stance and straightened his flanks.

"Good." Aspenheart crouched down, facing him, and mirrored his move. His tail was straight with his body, which was flat. His forelegs were tucked under him, moving up and down, making Aspenheart bounce. "See how I'm in what is called the streamlined position? Fish, mice, and birds are all built like this. It makes them have less resistance against air and water, so they move faster. You want to try to keep this position whenever you get into any crouch."

"Okay." Onyxpaw was starting to get why Aspenheart was correcting him so much. He stood up, shook himself, walked around, stretched, and crouched down again.

"Better, but flanks _flat_."

Onyxpaw lowered his back.

Aspenheart walked over and placed a paw on his back, and pressed him down, almost making him fall. His back leg muscles screamed as he struggled to keep his flanks flat. _StarClan, it's so hard!_

"It's hard at first," Aspenheart conceded, "that's because you're not used to it yet. The more you do it, the better you'll get." He sat down. "I'm going to get water for the elders. When I return, you may release your hold. I trust that you do not cheat; besides, I'm already good at this. This is for your own good."

And with that, he left. Onyxpaw could feel the muscles in his back legs burning. _Do you know how far the lake is from the camp?!_

After about 500 heartbeats, Onyxpaw relaxed a bit, but he remembered Aspenheart's words and quickly regained his posture.

Just when he thought he would die, Aspenheart returned.

"Feel the burn?" mused the reddish brown mentor.

"Yes," Onyxpaw mewed through gritted teeth. His vision was starting to blur.

"Stand up," Aspenheart commanded.

With an audible sigh of relief, Onyxpaw sank to the ground, panting.

"Quite hard, isn't it?" Aspenheart's voice came from above his head. "I can do that forever."

_He's as arrogant as Foxstar,_ Onyxpaw noticed. _Brothers are alike, I guess._ His heart twisted as he was brought back to the times when he had played Patrol with Jumpingpaw back in the nursery. They had always matched their blows, paw for paw, nip for nip.

_At least Aspenheart still has Foxstar. He's probably the only one Foxstar truly likes, other than maybe Flintpaw. _

Onyxpaw felt that familiar twinge of jealousy at being actually _liked_. _At least Aspenheart…appreciates me. Is that the same?_

"Onyxpaw?" Aspenheart was staring at him through narrowed eyes, his fiery eyes strikingly similar to his brother's. For a moment, it seemed as if Foxstar was there. But he wasn't, because Aspenheart was not like his brother.

At all.

"Hm?" Onyxpaw flattened his ears.

"What are you thinking?"

Onyxpaw sighed. "Well, everyone seems to like Flintpaw. I don't know why. I've tried to be like him, but…I just don't get the same results. He's not even that nice."

Aspenheart tilted his head. "There's an old warrior saying, called 'Larkspring copies Blossomshine.' Larkspring was a she-cat warrior back in Shadowstar's reign, a RiverClan cat. She had a denmate, Blossomshine, who seemed to be prettier, smarter, faster, fiercer, and more popular that her. She was just _better_. Blossomshine, as an apprentice, helped everyone out. She was kind-hearted and nice, funny and witty. That's what made her popular; her beauty deep down. Larkspring got jealous and tried to copy everything Blossomshine did, but her personality she had shown to the warriors before told them that she was just a wanna-be and her intentions of being a kind cat were not good. When they saw her reflection in RiverClan's river, they did not see Blossomshine in her, only the mean, cold-hearted, ruthless Larkspring.

"In the end, Larkspring was so envied, so angered, that when a Gathering was held, she threw herself into the river and forced herself to drown. Blossomshine jumped in to save her, but Larkspring's last words were, 'you're going down with me.' And to this day, Blossomshine's star shines with the rest of StarClan, one of the brightest, while Larkspring resides down in the Dark Forest, forever jealous, forever angry.

"The point is," Aspenheart meowed gently, "don't envy others. Be yourself, and that's what everyone wants."

"But what if 'myself' is mean, ruthless, and cold-hearted, like Larkspring?" whimpered Onyxpaw.

"You're not," Aspenheart meowed firmly. "I know that."

* * *

><p>Aspenheart's story echoed in Onyxpaw's mind. <em>Blossomshine.<em> She sounded like an awesome cat. _I wish I could meet her. _

But you couldn't connect with StarClan—

_Yes, you could,_ a small voice in the back of Onyxpaw's head meowed.

_How?_

_Remember the Moonpool?_

Onyxpaw sat up with a sudden jolt, an electrifying feeling arching up his spine. The Moonpool, of course!

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: The tale Aspenheart tells about Larkspring and Blossomshine is an actual Chinese fable, called (in English) 'Dung-shi Copies Eyebrows'. <strong>

** ~Silentecho**


	20. Stoneheart's Message

Night was settling in on ShadowClan camp. Onyxpaw waited until the entire apprentice's den was silent. Then, he quietly crept out of his nest and tiptoed around Jumpingpaw and Cloudpaw, both whom were snoring loudly near the entrance. A quick glance at the Tall Oak hollow told him that Foxstar was asleep, too; hopefully, he wouldn't wake up anytime soon. The reddish tom was known for his daily night-walks.

_Now, where is the Great Bear?_ Onyxpaw thought. He looked up; there it was, along with the star Icewind, the star that never moved. _Move towards the Icewind star_, Thistlestar had said_._ Onyxpaw took a step forward, then another, then another. He kept moving towards Icewind, always keeping his eyes on the star. A couple times he tripped, but he didn't really care.

Suddenly, he collided with a rock wall. "Ouch," he muttered. He placed a cautious paw on the rock and started to climb; it wasn't that high.

When he reached to top, he gasped. On the other side was beautiful pool; it was a clear, deep blue color with a few leaves and lilies sprinkled in the middle; the moon reflected clearly on the side. Onyxpaw crept down the rock and peered into the reflection: it did not show the rocks at all; instead, there was a beautiful ShadowClan camp. Onyxpaw could feel the warm breeze ruffling his fur as he stood in the center, and there seemed to be no Foxstar in sight. The moon hung lazily above in the sky, and the trees seemed to dance to the wind, their branches swaying to the direction of the breeze. He was staring back at himself, like reflections usually did, but around him were many warriors, all looking happy, content, staring back at him with his reflection. Flintpaw sat next to him, a shining look in his eyes.

Subconsciously, Onyxpaw reached out a paw and flicked the water; the reflection of the ShadowClan clearing rippled and became clear again when the water settled. Onyxpaw sighed. It was only an image.

"Like what you see?" a quiet voice meowed behind Onyxpaw. He whipped around. Behind him stood a white she-cat with gray flecks on her flank.

"Who are you?" asked Onyxpaw curiously. Surely, this was a sacred place, and no rouge would've known about this.

"It shows you what you want most, and in your case, a peaceful haven," the cat meowed simply. "My name is Snowfreckle. When Foxstar became leader, he banished all ShadowClan warriors from communicating with StarClan. However, I refused. I was the medicine cat! He banished me and my apprentice—"

"I've heard! You and Stonepaw, right?" Onyxpaw cut in excitedly. Then he realized he had interrupted. "Sorry."

Snowfreckle shook her head. "Stoneheart is with StarClan now."

"Oh," Onyxpaw realized. "I'm sorry. Well, what is this place?"

"The Moonpool," Snowfreckle whispered. "The only place you can communicate with StarClan."

"How do I do that?" asked Onyxpaw.

"Lay down," instructed Snowfreckle, "and lick the water."

Onyxpaw laid down on the cool stone, and lapped up a few drops. It tasted sweet, like his favorite food: water vole. Immediately, he felt sleepy and he closed his eyes.

When he opened them, he was in the meadow again: there stood Thistlestar, watching him with pride and warmth. Beside him stood a blue-gray she-cat Onyxpaw didn't recognize. But she was very pretty, with warm blue eyes and a lovely face. Beside her was a sturdy brown tom with patient yellow eyes.

"Thistlestar," Onyxpaw greeted. He turned to the she-cat. "I'm sorry, but I don't know your name."

"My name is Blossomshine," the she-cat replied patiently. She nodded to the brown tom. "His name is Stoneheart." Even her voice had a soft, beautiful ring to it. "Welcome to StarClan."

_Blossomshine! It's really her! And Stoneheart… I'm sorry you had to die. All you did was try to help your Clan._ "Is everyone who is…dead in StarClan?" asked Onyxpaw awkwardly.

"No," Thistlestar cut in. "Some are in the Dark Forest, and they deserve to be. Others…have faded when no one remembers them, or…in another way. You'll learn when you grow older."

"No one remembered them?" asked Onyxpaw. "Like who?"

"Shadowstar," Blossomshine meowed sadly, "and the other original leaders. I'm afraid Windstar is already gone."

"But everyone remembers them," Onyxpaw argued, "they're the original leaders! The founders!"

Blossomshine shook her head. "Not just like that. When we mean remember, we don't mean just elders telling stories to kits. Warriors remember the cat's personality and face, mentally. They remember their souls. That's what links StarClan warriors to the world. When no cats remember them officially, their spirits fade."

"Thanks," Onyxpaw meowed hurriedly, "but I've a question."

"And I've an answer," replied Thistlestar.

"Well," Onyxpaw continued, "I wish I could be appreciated more."

"Kindness the key," Blossomshine meowed immediately. "Appreciate others more, and in turn, they will appreciate you, too."

Stoneheart waved his tail. "We cannot reveal everything to you. You must walk you own path. Just remember what we said: there are many ways to help your Clan other than shedding blood."

* * *

><p>Onyxpaw woke with a jolt. He was sleeping by the side of the Moonpool. Although it was light, the pool still shone darkly, with the moon still hanging in the watery sky.<p>

"Had a good sleep?" it was Snowfreckle. "Did you see Stoneheart?"

Onyxpaw nodded. "He's happy in StarClan."

"Good." Snowfreckle glanced upward at the sky. "StarClan has refused to answer to me."

"Why?" Onyxpaw asked, alarmed. They had seemed so nice, the three cats. Surely they weren't _that_ ignorant?

Snowfreckle was silent. Onyxpaw turned away.

"I'm going to head back. Want to come?"

Snowfreckle shook her head. "Not with Foxstar in reign."

"I'm sorry." Onyxpaw was silent for a moment, then hastily bade the she-cat good-bye with a nod of his head and disappeared.

* * *

><p><em>There are more ways to help your Clan than shedding blood.<em> Onyxpaw lay in the shadows, thinking. It had been a quarter-moon since he had visited the Moonpool. Foxstar seemed to know nothing about it, and neither did the rest of the Darkness, which was good.

"Onyxpaw, want to go hunting with me?" asked Aspenheart, padding up.

"Sure," replied Onyxpaw, clambering up. As they passed the elders' den, they heard coughing.

"Poor Birchsong," sympathized Aspenheart.

_How else am I supposed to help my Clan besides being a warrior? StarClan, help me out._

A slight breeze blew towards them. A leaf flew through the air and smacked Onyxpaw in the face.

"Ouch," he muttered, and pried the leaf off. It had a slight minty smell to it, which he found rather addicting.

"I think that's catmint," Aspenheart meowed. "Good for treating greencough, if I remember correctly. You know, before I was a warrior I did do a little medicine cat stuff, before Foxstar dragged me to be a warrior with him."

Onyxpaw had already tuned Aspenheart out. He stared at the catmint, open-mouthed. _StarClan really answered me! This is their message! _

_I know what I need to do,_ Onyxpaw thought.

"Thank you, StarClan!" he whispered.

* * *

><p>That night, Onyxpaw snuck out again. The moonlight guided his path, and he found himself climbing the rocks to the Moonpool for the second time. Snowfreckle was waiting by the water, her white pelt glowing in the light of the moon. She was licking the water frantically, muttering.<p>

"Please, StarClan, answer me," Onyxpaw heard her beg.

"Snowfreckle?" he called out softly.

Snowfreckle turned. "Hello, Onyxpaw. What brings you here?"

"I need your help," he meowed, "it might help ShadowClan." _And me._

"How?"

"I need to learn to heal," he said simply, "and to become a medicine cat."


	21. Warrior Life

Flintpaw watched Onyxpaw pad quickly out of camp and disappear. The black tom may have thought he was sneaking out, but Flintpaw was watching him carefully.

_Where is he going?_ He wondered, annoyed. Did Onyxpaw have some secret friends who were conspiring with him? To do what? Onyxpaw seemed to disappear frequently these days, not to mention being a little more…._compassionate_. He had come out of the shadows and started talking to everyone, even Foxstar on occasions, and always seemed to be in a cheerful mood.

Birchsong padded out into the sun, side-by-side with Spiderclaw and Sheepfoot. The elder, a few moons ago, had suffered from greencough, but now, for some reason, she was fine. Did she receive a blessing from StarClan, or was someone helping out in another way? Surely not Onyxpaw, who was insolent and didn't care about anyone else but himself, although his change in character the past two moons had made Flintpaw re-think.

Flintpaw got up quickly; maybe he could catch up to Onyxpaw. He followed the black tom's scent all the way into the bushes and along the rocks… but then it was gone. He glanced up at the big pile of boulders. How could Onyxpaw have climbed up? It was too smooth, too high for an apprentice, even for Flintpaw.

Frustrated, he headed back. He was better than Onyxpaw. He had received extra training from Foxstar, and he considered himself more of a warrior than apprentice. Besides, Foxstar was likely to give him his warrior name any day.

* * *

><p>"Onyxpaw, where are you going?" asked a voice.<p>

"Huh?" heart pounding, Onyxpaw turned around. He was just about to make another trip to the Moonpool.

"I was just about to call you for your assessment," Aspenheart meowed.

_My assessment! If I pass, then I'm a warrior!_

"Oh, I was just going to catch some extra prey," Onyxpaw lied.

"Well, you can do that after you pass," mused Aspenheart, clearly not suspecting a thing.

"Sure!" Now excited, Onyxpaw followed Aspenheart out into the forest. Then, his heart sank. There, standing in the middle of the clearing, was Flintpaw and Foxstar.

"We're going to do the assessment with Flintpaw," Aspenheart said briskly. "You're okay with that."

It wasn't a question.

Onyxpaw gulped and nodded. Aspenheart turned to Foxstar.

"We will be watching you the entire time," Foxstar meowed softly. "The first part of the assessment will assess your hunting skills."

"You are to catch as much prey as you can," Aspenheart picked up. "Good luck."

Onyxpaw hesitated before dashing into the woods. He sniffed around. _Mouse…and marigold._

He could collect the marigold later.

He spotted the mouse a few tail-lengths away, its back to him. He settled into the crouch, careful not to disturb a leaf, and silently crawled towards the mouse.

With a speed like the wind, Flintpaw shot out of the bushes and landed squarely on the mouse, killing it with a bite. Onyxpaw swore under his breath and turned away.

A robin was just above him; perfect. Onyxpaw swiftly climbed up onto the tree and landed on the branch nimbly. Silently, he crept up onto the bird.

He could feel his muscles straining. His daily visits to Snowfreckle and the long training sessions with Aspenheart, not to mention the many patrols he had to join, had caused him to be bone-weary. He was running out of energy. _If I was quicker, then I would've gotten the mouse before Flintpaw, too._

Onyxpaw inadvertently placed a heavy-landed paw onto the thin tree branch, and it made a loud cracking sound. The robin chirped in alarm and spread its wings.

With a loud hiss, Onyxpaw shot out his forepaw and just missed it. The robin took off, and Onyxpaw bunched his haunches and leapt into the air, his outstretched claws hooking onto a wing and dragging the robin down.

Onyxpaw killed the bird with a quick bite, then jumped down the tree, burying the robin below the base of the tree.

Next, he spotted a vole nibbling on some seeds. Settling into the hunting crouch, he began creeping towards it like he did with the mouse. Flintpaw was nowhere to be seen. Using the streamlined position Aspenheart had taught him, he shot towards the vole and grappled it in his claws, killing it quickly.

He had only caught three more pieces of prey before Aspenheart stepped out. "Stop."

"Is it over?" asked Onyxpaw, relieved.

"Bring all your prey back to the clearing," Aspenheart continued. "And we'll see from there."

Heart pounding again, Onyxpaw dragged the prey, one by one, to the clearing. Flintpaw was standing there, with the mouse, three voles, a nice-looking thrush, and a large frog. _What! _

Foxstar made a scoffing noise at Onyxpaw's pitiful pile, then spoke. "The _next—_"

_There's more assessments?!_

"—part of the assessment will demonstrate your cooperation skills," Foxstar drawled. "You will be hunting with a warrior. We will still be watching you. You have to tell your partner what to do. Flintpaw, you will hunt with Wolftail, and Onyxpaw with Hawksplash."

_Oh no, not Hawksplash._ Hawksplash was the one cat that Onyxpaw disliked more than Flintpaw. The tom was arrogant, snarky, and just plain _rude_. Not that Onyxpaw himself was like that before, but still.

* * *

><p>Hawksplash slit out of the bushes, and eyed Onyxpaw lazily. "So, what?"<p>

"What?" Onyxpaw was confused.

Hawksplash waved his tail carelessly, hitting Wolftail, who was behind him, in the face. The silver tom hissed, and Hawksplash briefly turned his way. "What do I do?"

"Oh," Onyxpaw mewed hurriedly, "let's scent for prey first…"

"_Let's scent for prey first_," Hawksplash mimicked Onyxpaw with a leering snarl, but he opened his jaws. "I smell mouse."

"Um, me too," Onyxpaw meowed awkwardly, "I think it's that way." He pointed his tail west.

"Then lead me there," Hawksplash meowed lazily.

Annoyed, Onyxpaw swiftly walked towards the scent. There was the mouse, by a tree, just like the one Flintpaw had caught, crouching with its back facing him, doing some kind of mouse thing.

"Why don't you go over there, on the other side, and I'll chase it over to you," Onyxpaw suggested nervously.

Hawksplash shrugged, like he didn't really care what happened and that this wasn't his idea in the first place (which it probably wasn't). He silently climbed a tree, hopped from branch to branch, and landed on the other side of the tree the mouse was on.

Onyxpaw crouched down and dashed towards the mouse. It let out an alarmed squeak and shot straight into Hawksplash's paws.

"Not bad," Aspenheart meowed, stepping out from a bush. "Good job, you two."

Hawksplash narrowed his eyes and was silent, but Onyxpaw's nervousness eased.

"The next assessment will determine your leadership skills," Aspenheart continued. "You will lead Hawksplash on a border patrol."

"Okay," Onyxpaw meowed. He wasn't good at leading, and the last time he was with Hawksplash, he'd completely screwed up. "Um, the ThunderClan border is this way."

He took the lead, with Hawksplash padding lazily behind him. Onyxpaw's heart fluttered. What if he didn't pass?

Suddenly, Onyxpaw felt a blow to his flank. He whipped around. Hawksplash had attacked him.

The tabby tom lunged at him with a snarl and bowled Onyxpaw over. Onyxpaw went limp, and Hawksplash purposely went limp; Onyxpaw knew that he, like every warrior, knew this move. Onyxpaw surged up and threw Hawksplash off, who landed a few tail-lengths away on all four paws.

Onyxpaw leapt at Hawksplash, who reached up nimbly with his forepaws onto Onyxpaw's shoulders and slammed him to the ground.

_Ouch._ Onyxpaw's vision was blurred. He lashed out and hooked Hawksplash's paws out from under him. Then, a new strength fell on top of him.

The familiar scent of Pearshade filled his nostrils. What was she doing here? Onyxpaw reared up and Pearshade fell to the ground.

The two warriors faced Onyxpaw with a snarl; what was this? Were they planning to kill him? Had they found out his medicine cat visits?

"Hey—" he began, but Pearshade cut him off with a snarl and lashed out; he jumped back in alarm.

"Too scared?" sneered Hawksplash. He lunged at Onyxpaw, who swiped out, and caught Hawksplash on the chest.

Pearshade landed a blow on his flank. The wound stinging, his vision still blurring, Onyxpaw shifted his tactics to facing a two-on-one and slashed at both warriors.

Hawksplash suddenly pinned him down again and Pearshade raked her claws down his side. Onyxpaw cried out and squirmed.

The weight holding Onyxpaw down disappeared, and Onyxpaw threw Pearshade off. Onyxpaw raised his head in confusion; it was Branchclaw.

Onyxpaw quickly ran to the brown-and-white she-cat's side and they fought together, side-by-side, driving off the two warriors, who were both of The Darkness. That would explain it!

With Branchclaw's help, Onyxpaw was able to drive Hawksplash and Pearshade back against a tree. _I'm actually a pretty good fighter!_

"Stop." Aspenheart appeared from the top of a tree. "Your fighting skills are good, Onyxpaw. I trained you well." He seemed more satisfied with himself than Onyxpaw.

"What? This wasn't some kind of sneak attack to kill me? It was planned?"

"For your assessment," Pearshade meowed, rolling her eyes.

"And you passed," Aspenheart meowed lightly.

"Wow! Thanks!" Onyxpaw felt as if a huge weight was being taken off him.

* * *

><p>"…and I name you Onyxshade," Foxstar concluded quietly.<p>

"Flintfire! Jumpingtail! Dawnclaw! Cloudrye! Onyxshade!" the Clan chanted in a monotone.

_I'm a warrior now! Officially a warrior!_ Thought Flintfire happily.

"Go sit your vigils," Aspenheart meowed curtly as Foxstar dismissed the meeting. Flintfire nodded and padded towards the entrance. Five new warriors… that was a lot. And now, there were no apprentices. _Who's going to do the duties?_

Flintfire carefully sat beside Cloudrye. The two brothers hadn't spoken in months. Cloudrye scowled at Flintfire and moved beside Dawnclaw. Instead, Onyxshade took the chance and took Cloudrye's place.

Pretending not to notice, Flintfire endured the rest of his vigil alone.

* * *

><p>"Hello, Snowfreckle," Onyxshade whispered, padding over the side of the rocks. The white she-cat was waiting by the Moonpool, as usual.<p>

"Hi, Onyxpaw," Snowfreckle greeted.

"I got my warrior name," Onyxshade meowed, "I'm Onyxshade now."

"Good job," purred Snowfreckle. She gestured with her tail the herbs she had laid out in front of her. "Will you help me sort these herbs?"

"Sure," Onyxshade meowed at once, and sat down beside her, the two working in silence.

There was no Darkness, no Foxstar, no Flintfire, just the stars glittering above them, and the moon reflecting silently in the peaceful, blossom-showered water of the Moonpool.

* * *

><p>"We are," Foxstar was meowing as Onyxshade hurried back from his session with Snowfreckle, blending in with Logpelt's patrol, "going to take over RiverClan."<p>

Murmurs of excitement and nervousness rippled through the Clan. The Darkness warriors' eyes were gleaming, but the rest of the Clan shuffled their paws anxiously.

"Foxstar formation!" yowled Foxstar, louder than he had spoken anytime before, and the Clan quickly rearranged itself; Foxstar jumped off his Tall Oak and took the lead. Behind him stood the first row, five Darkness warriors (Wolftail, Hawksplash, Flintfire, Raggedlion, and Jaggedleaf) and Aspenheart. Behind them, six more warriors, Darkness and non-Darkness alike, and six more after that, making five rows. Fourteen warriors had stayed behind. They formed a menacing wall behind Foxstar, and the enemy was likely to run away with their tails in between their legs. Onyxshade was squished in between Kinkwhisker and Blacksmoke in the third row, and he was unable to see anything properly with all the warriors in front of him, so he just followed the rest of his Clan.

"Foamwhisker, Redstorm, and Brightgorse will help us once we get there," Raintail whispered to Onyxshade. She was behind him. Onyxshade shivered. _He _didn't want to fight anymore, he just wanted Foxstar to die and then all of this wouldn't be happening anymore. Foxstar was probably on his last life, any way. No cat could live _this_ long. Except perhaps Firestar, who had lead ThunderClan generations ago.

Every Darkness meeting Foxstar had talked about how to take over the Lake; he had planned this for a long time, Onyxshade could tell, and now it was really happening.

The Clan stopped. Foxstar's voice rang out through the silence.

"Lead us through."

"Sure thing," Foamwhisker's voice replied. The patrol began to move again; Onyxshade gulped nervously.

They passed trees and bushes not unlike ShadowClans, but the unfamiliar stink of RiverClan washed over them, and soon the camp thinned out to reveal a wet bog.

The Clan stopped, and Foxstar quietly gave one command:

"Attack."

ShadowClan, along with its RiverClan Darkness warriors, sprang into action. The alarmed yowls of RiverClan warriors slashed through the peaceful silence. Onyxshade cowered as warriors leapt over his head, spitting at their enemies. War erupted around him, turning the bog into a bloody battlefield.

"Come _on_, Onyxshade!" a cat nudged him roughly. It was Flintfire. "Let's fight!"

"Okay, okay," Onyxshade quickly muttered, trying to sound cool. He forced himself to stand up properly and launched himself half-heartedly at a RiverClan warrior.

The RiverClan warrior threw Maplefur aside and swiped viciously at Onyxshade, easily knocking him over. Onyxshade's muzzle hit the ground with a hard thump. _Ouch._

"What was that?" Hawksplash appeared at Onyxshade's side. "You're fighting like a kit!"

Onyxshade growled. He was a warrior, and he couldn't let Hawksplash bully him. They were of the same rank. He stood up and roughly shoved Hawksplash aside, and launched himself into battle.

It had been a long time since Onyxshade had done this; there had been a small border tussle between ShadowClan and ThunderClan (which ShadowClan easily won, along with killing Reedfur, a ThunderClan senior warrior, who was about to retire), but otherwise, he had never fought in a proper battle. His claws were stained with the blood of innocent warriors. Flintfire, beside him, was tearing and clawing viciously; his eyes blazed like Foxstar's and a permanent snarl was plastered on his otherwise handsome face. White, pointed, sharp teeth gleamed in the RiverClan sun, and his claws, dyed more red than Onyxshade's, sank into RiverClan fur.

A RiverClan cat, spitting, pried Flintfire off and threw him aside. "Get off my brother!"

Onyxshade's heart clenched. _Jumpingtail. Where is he?_

He spotted the tabby tom battling two RiverClan warriors who were about twice his size each. Onyxshade dodged a RiverClan claw and jumped out of the way as Owlshadow and a RiverClan she-cat rolled by. Near him, Copperstorm and Sunfury were clawing furiously at a small RiverClan apprentice. Onyxshade wished that they would stop; the apprentice was _dying_. But he couldn't reveal his secret betrayal, so he willed himself on. Jumpingtail was losing up ahead.

Onyxshade hurled at his brother, just as one of the RiverClan cats' claws lashed out and tore a long gash from Jumpingtail's shoulder to his flank.

Onyxshade gasped. His vision began to shake with anger. How dare they harm Jumpingtail, his brother!

Jumpingtail collapsed with a yowl, and Onyxshade stood over him protectively, trying to fend off the two cats. They towered over him, blocking the sun as their swipes landed everywhere. His wounds stinging, he struggled to keep up with their blows.

A huge paw shot out from one of the warriors and pinned him down, claws sinking into his fur. The other warrior sneered at him and raised a paw, his claws gleaming in the sun. The glare made Onyxshade look away.

"Any last words, you worthless piece of ShadowClan rat-dung?" he growled.

Onyxshade gasped for air as the other warrior's claws dug into his throat.

Suddenly, the weight was lifted. Was it Branchclaw to the rescue again? He struggled to get up, his vision blurry.

Dawnclaw was now grappling with the tom, who was a large, light brown-and-white tom.

"Gartertail!" growled the other tom.

"I'm fine," puffed the other tom—Gartertail—who was clearly losing to Dawnclaw's furious swipes. Gashes began to appear on his face.

"Don't—you—dare—hurt—my—brothers!" Dawnclaw screeched angrily.

"That's it, all a' y'all are going _down_," growled the other tom, and he lunged at Jumpingtail's exposed body, which Onyxshade had stepped away from when he was pinned down.

"No!" snarled Onyxshade, and he leapt at the brown tom, catching him on the shoulders and knocking him aside. He returned to Jumpingtail's body and looked around. Thankfully, they were by the edge of the woods. Quickly, he caught Jumpingtail in the scruff and dragged him beneath the bushes.

"O-Onyxshade?" gasped Jumpingtail, his eyelids fluttering. There was the gash, blood spilling out.

"I've got you, brother," murmured Onyxshade. _Quick…think…think…I'll need cobwebs!_

He looked around. The forest seemed bare….

He hurled out into the battle, and looked wildly around. _Where is the medicine den?_

Ducking under cats screeching, hissing, spitting, fighting, and yowling, he spotted a small hollow in a willow tree. Beneath it crouched Owlfur, RiverClan's medicine cat, her tail curled around her cowering body, ears flat, eyes wide with worry and fright.

"Owlfur!" Onyxshade dashed towards her. Owlfur growled and pressed against the hollow wall, teeth bared.

"Don't you dare touch my herbs!"

"No," panted Onyxshade, "I'm not like them… most of them are just being controlled by Foxstar as it is… my brother… got hurt… large wound…he's going to die. Please, Owlfur, you've got to help me. Gartertail did it to him."

Owlfur's yellow eyes widened. "Where is he?"

"In those bushes." Onyxshade signaled with his tail.

Owlfur grabbed some moss and cobwebs, then headed into the trees. "Between here, so Foxstar won't see you."

Onyxshade nodded gratefully and followed her. A short distance away, Jumpingtail's body appeared in sight, with Dawnclaw crouching over him.

"He's not doing well," she meowed fretfully.

"Let me see," Owlfur ordered, and Dawnclaw moved aside obediently.

"Cobwebs," Onyxshade meowed immediately, and he brought pawfuls over. Owlshade cast him a curious glance but said nothing, and bound the cobwebs tightly over Jumpingtail's wound.

"Water," Owlfur requested, and Dawnclaw dashed away with the moss, returning it awhile later.

"It's good that you have the river here," she panted.

Owlfur said nothing and nodded, holding the moss over Jumpingtail's open mouth. Water dripped down…and Jumpingtail swallowed.

"Onyxshade?" he croaked again. "Dawnclaw?"

"You're okay now," she soothed. She nodded to Owlfur. "Thanks for everything. We couldn't—"

"Don't," Owlfur muttered stiffly. "It's my job." She stalked away.

* * *

><p>"Onyxshade?" Jumpingtail approached him as he returned from patrol. It had been three days since the battle, and he was fine now. It was the first time he had even tried to talk to Onyxshade since he had said his name in the battle.<p>

"Hm?" Onyxshade narrowed his eyes. Jumpingtail sat down, and Onyxshade mirrored him.

"I just wanted to apologize," Jumpingtail meowed sheepishly, "for shunning you like that. Okay, maybe you were really rude and annoying, but I'm your brother, and as a brother I have a duty to stick by your side, whatever choice you choose. And I'm sorry for being unreasonably angry at you."

"No, it's my fault," Onyxshade meowed, immediately feeling guilty. "I'm the one who should be sorry. And I am. I don't think that way now," he added in a low voice.

Jumpingtail nodded. "I'm glad. But if you still do think that way… I'm glad for you, too. I just don't think it's the best, killing off all these innocent cats. By the way, thanks for saving my life. I owe you one."

"We're even," Onyxshade purred. "Your friendship is worth more than nine lives." And it was true. Having Jumpingtail back, even if it was his only family member, felt great. He felt himself melt away from the shadows, and back into the light. Memories of Jumpingtail and him as kits, playing with Dawnclaw in the nursery, flooded back. Thankfully, these moments wouldn't be wasted and lost.

Jumpingtail raised a paw, showing his small paw pads. "Brothers?"

"Brothers," Onyxshade echoed warmly, raising his paw, touching his paw pad to Jumpingtail's.

His brother. Always his brother.


	22. It's Over

Onyxshade made his way out of the camp. There was a patch of marigold where he had spotted the mouse during his assessment, and he needed to find it again. There had been many cats who had suffered terrible wounds and Onyxshade had been secretly treating them. They had kept quiet about his medicine cat-like roles, and never questioned how he knew these techniques.

"Onyxshade? Where are you going?" Jumpingtail's voice asked.

Onyxshade turned around. "Um…nothing."

Jumpingtail narrowed his eyes and took a step closer, holding Onyxshade's gaze. "Don't lie to me, brother. I know something's going on. Don't worry. You can tell me."

Onyxshade sighed, and told him the story of becoming a medicine cat. Jumpingtail looked excited.

"That's awesome! You think I can become one, too?"

Onyxshade was still for a moment. Jumpingtail wanted to become one, too? A twinge of jealousy pierced Onyxshade's heart. _I'm the only one who should know about Snowfreckle and the Moonpool._ But then, he remembered Jumpingtail's words about being brothers.

"Sure. I'll take you to the Moonpool tomorrow."

* * *

><p>Flintfire watched through narrowed eyes as Onyxshade <em>and <em>Jumpingtail snuck their way out of camp. It seemed liked, after the battle, that the two brothers had started to talk to each other again, Dawnclaw, too. Flintfire still hadn't made up with Cloudrye.

_It's Cloudrye's fault for not being a good brother._

It felt like he had no family left. Whitestag and Silverbriar were dead… because of _him_. His tail twitched guiltily as he remembered reporting to Foxstar about Whitestag's blaspheming. Foxstar had threatened to kill Cloudrye, too, but Flintfire had saved him at the last moment. Then, without a word, Foxstar had gone out and slaughtered his parents.

Flintfire considered reporting Onyxshade and Jumpingtail to Foxstar, but he didn't want another Whitestag-and-Silverbriar-scene.

Hadn't he killed enough warriors already? In the battle with RiverClan, he had killed an apprentice. He had felt nothing but fury, fury that these Clan cats were so _weak_ that they could be even considered a Clan, but now he felt nothing but guilt.

And pain. For himself. _Am I going to go to the Dark Forest?_ He was only trying to help his Clan.

He didn't even understand _how_ they could lose to RiverClan. ShadowClan was the strongest Clan in all four of the Clans. It was when Swiftstar the leader shot into the Clan, back from patrol, that Aspenheart called a retreat. Foxstar had already lost a life due to the deputy. Next time he saw Fallencloud, Flintfire vowed he would _kill_ her.

Wait. Kill her? Had he really thought that? _Why am I thinking this way? Why, all of a sudden, I don't care about others anymore? Am I really that selfish?_

_Yes_, a voice meowed inside his head.

* * *

><p>"We will launch another battle on RiverClan," Foxstar announced. Flintfire sat next to Kinkwhisker, listening intently to Foxstar's speech. They were sitting on the Twoleg bridge, now called the Bloodbridge (after Thistlestar's murder), having another Darkness meeting. Onyxshade wasn't present.<p>

Foxstar never seemed to give up. After the battle with RiverClan, which they had lost, he had spent the next few days analyzing their mistakes, coming up with new tactics, and discussing many things with the senior Darkness warriors like Raggedlion or Jaggedleaf.

Flintfire returned to the clearing. He looked back into the crowd of Darkness warriors that were flooding into camp. Onyxshade had joined them at sometime; the black tom was talking to Sunfury and Copperstorm. Flintfire scowled as Jumpingtail rose from his place beside Frostfurze and joined his brother.

Flintfire scanned the clearing. Cloudrye was lying side-by-side with Tigerthorn and Spottedtuft. He padded cautiously over; could he maybe make up with his own kin?

"Cloudrye?"

"What?" Cloudrye turned around, eyes narrowed. Tigerthorn let out a soft hiss and turned away; Spottedtuft pretended that he didn't see anyone at all, and began chatting with Logpelt, who was passing by.

"Um…could I speak to you privately, please?" he glanced at Tigerthorn. Spottedtuft immediately stood up and stalked away with Logpelt and Blacksmoke.

"Whatever," Tigerthorn meowed stiffly, and rose to talk with Goldenflight and Slatefoot. Flintfire resisted the urge to sigh.

"What is it?" Cloudrye asked coldly as they retreated into the shadows of the rocks outside camp.

"I, er…" _How should I begin this? _Flintfire didn't want to apologize; there was nothing to apologize for. _What do I want to talk about?_

"Do you know what happened to Whitestag and Silverbriar?" interrupted Cloudrye, his eyes wide. "What did they do?"

Flintfire's heart weighed down with guilt. "They were speaking bad stuff about Foxstar, I think."

Cloudrye narrowed his eyes. "Yeah? Who told you?"

Flintfire leaned back as Cloudrye leaned in, sticking his muzzle in Flintfire's face. "Um… the cat who told Foxstar."

"And who was that?"

"That was…that was… um… I think..." Flintfire leaned in to Cloudrye's ear and whispered.

* * *

><p>"I will kill you Onyxshade!" growled a voice behind Onyxshade. Terrified, he whipped around. It was Cloudrye, stalking up to him, his eyes to slit, seething with fury and…pain?<p>

"What? Why?" stammered Onyxshade. Cloudrye was usually such a gentle tom (unlike his brother), and never had an argument with anyone (except his brother). Why would he act such a way now, especially when Onyxshade had done nothing?

"You know perfectly why," snarled Cloudrye, sticking his muzzle in Onyxshade's face. Onyxshade heard unsheathed claws scrape against rock, and his heart pounded.

"As a matter of fact, I don't," Onyxshade snapped back, his temper rising again. He struggled to keep it down, but cats like this naturally annoyed him.

"You told on Whitestag and Silverbriar! You're a traitor to the warrior code, and I hope you go rot in the Dark Forest after I'm finished with you!" Cloudrye raised a paw, his unsheathed claws shining dangerously. Had the tom sharpened them for this occasion?

"What! No, I didn't!" protested Onyxshade. His own claws slid out, ready to defend himself if necessary. Now, with Foxstar in rule, no body cared about who killed who; it was truly a survival of the fittest, if you knew your resources and fellow cats.

"Then how else would they be dead," growled Cloudrye.

"Who even told you—assumed that I—killed them?" demanded Onyxshade, dodging as Cloudrye lashed out. His claws missed by one claw-length. Onyxshade could feel the wind the swipe had stirred up ruffle his chest fur.

"Flintfire," retorted Cloudrye, swiping again. He caught Onyxshade on the left shoulder. The slash stinging, Onyxshade resisted the urge to claw back. _I am part medicine cat. I am no blood-shedder like Foxstar._

"And you would trust Flintfire?" cried Onyxshade in disbelief. However, he knew the feeling. Even though Flintfire and Cloudrye were no longer close, they were still _brothers_, kin. When Onyxshade and Jumpingtail had broken up, they still believed in each other, still took each other's word for anything… even if they didn't speak. It was just a kinship thing.

"More than I would trust you," snarled Cloudrye aggressively.

"Well I know that I didn't turn them in! I think they're wonderful cats," retorted Onyxshade. "It was Flintfire that did it. Whitestag and I were talking by the creek and I think Flintfire heard us."

Cloudrye paused. "So you didn't have anything to do with it?"

"No," sighed Onyxshade, relieved that he had finally gotten it.

Cloudrye gave Onyxshade a rough cuff on the head with sheathed claws. "We'll see after I talk to Flintfire."

* * *

><p>"Flintfire, a word?" Cloudrye asked casually.<p>

"Um, sure," Flintfire replied, trying to sound cool. His heart began to twist and pound with guilt. What if Cloudrye found out that it was he, Flintfire, that had told on his own parents?

"Onyxshade says that Whitestag was talking to him and you were eavesdropping. Then, you went and sold our parents' lives to Foxstar." Cloudrye narrowed his eyes. "Is that true?"

Flintfire looked at the ground, unable to speak. He could feel the anger and sadness pulsing off Cloudrye's body.

He didn't need to look up to see Cloudrye's face; his words and tone of voice said it all.

"You piece of Dark Forest rot!" he snarled. "How could you! Do you even have a heart? Whitestag will _never_ be proud of you, and neither will I! Forget it, Flintfire. This brotherhood is _over_."


	23. Flintfire's Visit to the Moonpool

Onyxshade pushed through the thick willow leaves. The creek side was always his favorite place to sit and think. The rushing water distracted him from his current problems. It was the place he last talked to Whitestag.

To his surprise, someone was already there.

"Flintfire?" asked Onyxshade.

Flintfire turned around, his eyes sad. "Oh, it's you."

"Me," Onyxshade meowed, and sat beside Flintfire. For a moment, they watched the river rush past them wildly.

"I wish my problems could become solid," sighed Flintfire a while later, "so I could throw them into this creek and watch them wash away."

Sticks and leaves swirled by. Onyxshade glanced at him, then said, "look at those branches. They will never melt into the river, nor just disappear. They can we washed away, yes, but they'll still be there, forever in the river, swirling around and around. Someday, they'll come back to bite you. You can't get rid of problems until you solve them."

Flintfire narrowed his eyes but kept staring ahead, his gaze hard but thoughtful. "I have a problem, but I don't think I can solve it."

Onyxshade immediately knew what it was, but he still meowed, "well every problem has an answer, doesn't it?"

"This one doesn't."

"And this problem is?"

"Well," sighed Flintfire at last, "I guess I owe you an apology."

"About time," muttered Onyxshade under his breath.

"I'm…uh…" Flintfire began awkwardly. Onyxshade could tell that he had never apologized to anyone; he was certainly having a hard time now.

"Whatever," Onyxshade muttered, and Flintfire faltered.

"How am I going to apologize to _them_?" the cream-and-white tom sighed, glancing upward at the clear, blue sky.

"There's only one place to communicate with StarClan," Onyxshade spit out before he thought the words.

"Where?"

"Um… the Moonpool."

* * *

><p>Flintfire met Onyxshade out in the dark as the stars glittered above them. <em>The stars of our ancestors.<em> _Whitestag and Silverbriar are up there somewhere...tonight I'll see them._

"So uh," Flintfire began quietly, "how do we get there?" The night was as black as Onyxshade's pelt, and only his yellow eyes glittered in the dark.

"Trust me," Onyxshade meowed with an air of confidence Flintfire only had seen twice, "I know the way."

"Okay, then," Flintfire shrugged. He needed to do this. For himself. _And others, maybe?_

The two set out. Onyxshade picked his way around the forest, sure-footed as Foxstar, and walking with the same air of haughty arrogance. Flintfire could totally imagine himself walking like that.

They stopped at the rock wall. _How does he get over?_ Onyxshade, though, continued up along the wall and soon the wall ended. _He goes around?_

The trail continued, prickly and bumpy. The overwhelming stink of ThunderClan soon washed over him.

"We're on ThunderClan territory!" he hissed.

"I know," Onyxshade meowed calmly, "we'll have to cross to get there. I've informed Beetlestar I'm acting as medicine cat for ShadowClan."

"Wait—you are?" Flintfire stopped, his blood running cold. Onyxshade had healed Birchsong's greencough. Onyxshade had healed all those cats from the RiverClan battle! Onyxshade had disobeyed Foxstar!

"I…" Onyxshade faltered, realizing what he had slipped out. "Yeah… please don't tell anyone."

"You think—" Flintfire began in a snarl, but stopped. Onyxshade was helping him out right now. He shouldn't betray the black tom's secret; he owed him that much. "Sure, you can count on me."

Onyxshade said nothing and they continued through the ThunderClan forest. Flintfire did his best to remember every rock and tree; he was probably going to need the information later.

Soon, the ThunderClan smell faded. _Ugh, I'm going to stink of ThunderClan for days! How does Onyxshade handle this?_ By now, Onyxshade was moving rather fast.

They picked their way past more trees and rock. Flintfire wondered if the trip was ever going to end.

And just as he was about to give up, Onyxshade halted. "Here it is. Just over these rocks."

"You made this trip everyday?" asked Flintfire in disbelief.

"Yeah," Onyxshade meowed casually, as if it were nothing, "it's not hard."

_Cheeky tom!_

"What do we do now?"

"Climb over these rocks," Onyxshade meowed simply. He glanced upwards. "Heavybelly moon tonight."

Flintfire glanced upwards, too. The moon was fat, but not completely full. Heavybelly was the name for that phase.

The pair clambered over the rocks. Flintfire gasped. Standing before him was a beautiful pool; the warm air ruffled his fur as the cherry blossoms shifted a bit on top of the pool, ripples shivering throughout the water. Cherry blossom trees and willow trees surrounded the pool and the rocks.

Onyxshade jumped down nimbly. "I don't think she's here tonight."

"Who?"

"Snowfreckle," Onyxshade meowed calmly, "the former ShadowClan medicine cat. She hangs around here."

"Where does she usually go?"

"She's a kittypet, I think. Now, lay down by the water," Onyxshade instructed, and Flintfire obeyed. Onyxshade laid down beside him, both of them facing the water. They gazed into it together.

Flintfire felt mesmerized by the scene before him. It was ShadowClan camp, with him sitting on the Tall Oak, where Foxstar usually occupied during a meeting. Below him sat the ShadowClan Clan members, watching him with patience, determination, and dependence. Beside him, on the branches adjacent to his, sat Silverbriar and Whitestag, their eyes shining with pride. Behind Flintfire sat Cloudrye, his eyes glittering with brotherly love. Flintfire leaned in, trying to become one with the scene…

"Ouch!" Someone had flicked water into his eyes. He wiped them quickly with his paw. "What was that for?"

"I didn't do anything," Onyxshade meowed from above. "It's the fish in there. They're really big and spotted, like white-and-ginger with whiskers. If you get to close to the water, they flick you with their tails, to remind you that this vision is not reality."

"Did you see something in the water?" exclaimed Flintfire. He touched the water. The scene rippled, but the water calmed and it stayed.

"You see what your heart desires deep down," Onyxshade meowed softly. He gazed back into the water longingly.

"What do you see?"

"That is for me to know, and only me," Onyxshade replied calmly. "Now, lick the water. And close your eyes."

Flintfire lapped up a few drops of the Moonpool's water and closed his eyes.

* * *

><p>A paw prodded him sharply. "Wake up!" a stink washed over Flintfire's nose. He opened his eyes.<p>

A darkness darker than the day's night revealed itself to him. Gray, grim light filtered through the gaps of the tree leaves. The smell of the dead hung in the air, teasing Flintfire's nose.

"Where is this?" he asked nervously. "Onyxshade?"

"You're friend's not here," sneered a greasy voice. "We walk alone in the Dark Forest."

_The Dark Forest! I'm really in the Dark Forest!_ Flintfire thought in a panic. _I have to get out of here! Find Whitestag and Silverbriar!_

"Who are you?" he asked fearfully. He clambered up and gazed around. A huge brown tom stood before him. He was rather sturdy, heavily built and scars covered his face.

"My name," the tom replied smoothly, "is Clawface."

"Where is StarClan?" Flintfire asked nervously, shifting slowly away from Clawface.

Clawface grinned mockingly, broken yellow teeth showing through the grim darkness. "Not here, kit."

Flintfire snarled. "Don't call me kit!"

"I can call you whatever I want," Clawface meowed loftily. Claws slit out, gleaming in the gray moonlight.

"Go away!" squeaked Flintfire, now truly terrified. This place was ten times scarier than Foxstar had ever been. How did these cats survive?

His paws picked themselves up and he turned around and dashed the other way. Clawface's laughing screechs rang creepily throughout the night. The cold air of the Forest chilled Flintfire to the bone, but he kept running. Eyes glittered throughout the darkness, watching him. Manic laughter echoed along the dead, slimy trees, ringing in Flintfire's ears.

The Forest was beginning to get misty, but also a bit more…undead. Flintfire headed for the fog and the yowls of the Dark Forest cats began to fade. The stink also started to wear away, and Flintfire no longer felt the ground slimy and slippery.

Flintfire gasped for breath. It was hard to breath in this smoke. The trees began to thin… ahead, he could see a wide, open, meadow…

He leapt out of the fog, panting heavily. Soft grass met his paws; warm air ruffled his fur. The stars glittered above him, clear and confident. _This must be StarClan._

He lay there for a while, then forced himself to his paws. Glancing around, he saw a very familiar looking black-and-white tom race by.

"Thistlestar!" he called out.

Thistlestar paused, looking at Flintfire with sad eyes. "I gave you a chance. You ruined it."

"What chance?" asked Flintfire, confused. "Where's Whitestag and Silverbriar?"

Thistlestar shook his head. "They don't want to see you. I thought you were good. But your heartless deeds have landed you in the Dark Forest."

"Then what do I do?" stammered Flintfire nervously. "I mean, I want to go here…"

Thistlestar leaned in. "That's what everyone wants. But some don't make it, do they? They are sent to rot in the Dark Forest and succumb to the insanity of it. That place is for the bad cats, the ones who have disobeyed the warrior code. Like you right now. Until you change, you are not welcome in StarClan."


	24. The Fall of RiverClan

"Flintfire!" a voice meowed suddenly. Flintfire opened his eyes. Onyxshade was standing anxiously over him.

"What?" he mumbled, still in shock from Thistlestar's words.

Onyxshade stepped back, and Flintfire scrambled up. He looked around. They were at the Moonpool. Although the sky was crisp and blue, the moon was still reflected in the Moonpool's water and the day was still night in the reflection. Huh.

"Did you…?" Onyxshade asked lightly, "you know, do what you needed to do?"

_No_. "Yes," he meowed.

"Really?" Onyxshade looked confused. "I didn't see you there."

"Well, I didn't see you," Flintfire retorted. "I was probably at a different place. I was in a big green meadow."

"So was I!" Onyxshade meowed. "That's the ShadowClan meadow."

"Well, I don't know," shrugged Flintfire. "Let's just go."

Onyxshade flicked his ears. "Fine." The two picked their way back to ShadowClan, unaware of a large tabby tom with glowing green eyes following them the whole way. A hawk flew over head. The tabby tom raced along below, all the while keeping his eyes on the two younger toms ahead of him.

* * *

><p><em>Until you change, you are not welcome in StarClan.<em> Thistlestar's words constantly rang in Flintfire's ears. Not welcome in StarClan? _Then it's the Dark Forest for me, I guess. I never want to go back. _He shivered.

Then, he suddenly began to shake with anger. He had done so much to try to prove himself, and this is what he received? Well, enough! If he was going to go to the Dark Forest, he might as well earn himself a high place there.

"Are you all right, Flintfire?" asked a voice quietly. It was Dawnclaw.

"Fine," replied Flintfire stiffly.

Dawnclaw narrowed her eyes at him; she had been watchful ever since the visit to the Moonpool, which she might've had some information on by Onyxshade.

Lightly, she touched her tail to his hunched shoulders, and left quietly. Flintfire sighed and looked up at the sky.

_Enough._

He jumped up, and looked around for Foxstar. Where was the russet tom?

"We are invading RiverClan tonight, Flintfire," a deep voice meowed behind him. Foxstar. "Be prepared."

Flintfire stared ahead, his gaze hard and unyielding. "Understood. I will sharpen my claws on the toughest bark." He turned around and met Foxstar's proud gaze evenly. "You can count on me, Foxstar. We won't fail this time, for half of RiverClan shall be dead by me."

* * *

><p>Night fell upon the ShadowClan camp. Foxstar had roused all the warriors, making them stay up late into the evening, until now. The russet leader sat on his usual branch on the Tall Oak, Aspenheart beneath him.<p>

"We will change tactics," Foxstar meowed. Onyxshade cowered at the back along with the non-Darkness warriors. The Darkness warriors stood eagerly at the front, ears angling towards Foxstar, catching on to his every word. "We will surround them by all four sides." His gaze swept the Clan. "Flintfire, Pearshade, Kinkwhisker, Stormfurze, Logpelt, Dawnclaw and Appleclaw will take the front of RiverClan. Foamwhisker will lead you there.

"Pikepounce, Larchblaze, Thornsplash, Goldenflight, Hawksplash, Onyxshade, and Jumpingtail will attack the rear of the Clan. Gartertail has agreed to lead you there."

_Oh no, not Gartertail,_ Onyxshade thought sadly, remembering the fight. _Why do I have the worst patrol of Hawksplash and the almost-murderer of my brother?_

"Sunfury, Copperstorm, Badgerfang, Wolftail, Jaggedleaf, Spottedtuft, and Frostfurze will attack from a side. Redstorm will lead you.

"Lastly, I, Aspenheart, Raggedlion, Vixenclaw Fallenshadow, Brightcloud, and Raintail will attack from the other side. Brightgorse will direct you. Move out."

The Clan streamed and pushed their way out of the entrance. The warriors that had been left behind to guard stayed quiet. Onyxshade wished that he could be with them; all of ShadowClan's battles were bloody and violent.

"What will we do?" Jumpingtail appeared at Onyxshade's side. "We're medicine cats!"

"We'll have to play along for now," whispered Onyxshade.

"Split up," came Foxstar's voice from the front. Excited whispers arose from the Darkness warriors and even some of the others. Onyxshade followed his patrol, lead by Hawksplash and Larchblaze, around RiverClan's territory. The fishy stink filled his nostrils, and he shuddered.

Gartertail stopped among some bushes, where they all cramped together. "Here is the front. Foxstar, Foamwhisker, Brightgorse, Redstorm, and I will walk out into the camp and signal all of ShadowClan _together_. Watch us. Don't miss your signal."

_Don't miss you signal._ Jumpingtail mimicked Gartertail with a weird face. Onyxshade smirked, then turned back to the camp.

Foxstar, Foamwhisker, Brightgorse, Redstorm, and Gartertail were indeed out there. Together, they raised their tails and lashed them down.

The ShadowClan warriors exploded from all four sides of the RiverClan camp. Surprised yowls tore through the night, and Onyxshade half-heartedly clawed at a RiverClan warrior, tearing at his flank. He yowled in pain and stumbled away, bleeding visibly.

Onyxshade's heart clenched. He was supposed to be _healing_, not killing.

"Wait!" he stammered. The noise level was too high for any warrior to hear properly; everyone was busy clawing and scratching, even Jumpingtail, who was grappling with a large tabby tom.

Onyxshade pelted after the tom he had hurt. The tom had staggered into the nearby bushes where Foxstar's patrol had hidden. Onyxshade ducked down and followed him. Thankfully, his black pelt kept him well blended into the night.

"Get away from me!" screeched the tom.

"I'm sorry," whispered Onyxshade, sincerely, "I shouldn't have done that. I had to, to show—"

The tom clawed at him, and Onyxshade felt a sting to his muzzle. He drew back warily.

"Don't try to woo me," the tom snarled. "You're just like the rest of them. Go rot in the Dark Forest!"

"No!" Onyxshade cried in a panic. "You've got to listen to me! I've met StarClan before! I know how to heal!"

"Tell that to your new Dark Forest Clanmates, you piece of rat-dung," growled the tom, baring his teeth, and he claws flashed.

Onyxshade ducked, and the claws grazed the top of his head. The tom was running out of energy; he was bleeding too heavily. A stump was nearby, and he quickly hurried over and peered inside; there were indeed cobwebs. He clawed all of it out, and hurried back to the tom.

"What are you-?" he meowed heavily.

"Shh!" snapped Onyxshade. He bound the tom's wounds tightly. "What's your name?"

"Robinfeather," gasped the tom.

"It's going to be all right," Onyxshade tried to soothe. He didn't have any other herbs, but cobwebs should be enough for now, he thought.

"You just repatched your own making," Robinfeather meowed, looking confused.

"I didn't mean to do that," Onyxshade apologized, "I kinda had to."

Robinfeather nodded. "I understand. I won't tell anyone. Stay here, I'll bring the wounded to you, if that's okay."

Onyxshade nodded quietly and Robinfeather plunged back into battle. Onyxshade looked around. He smelled marigold a few tail-lengths away, and found the herbs quickly. Cobwebs were abundant. There were even a few burdock roots he dug up.

Robinfeather dragged a small tabby she-cat into the bushes. "I've only just found her consulving on the ground," he panted, "I'll be back. Her name's Willowsplash."

Onyxshade peered fearfully at Willowsplash, who was now breathing heavily on the ground. He rolled her over, feeling her with a cautious paw. A gash led from her shoulder to her flank; this was going to be difficult.

He pawed all the cobwebs onto her wounds, and started binding them. He only finished wrapping them when they fell apart again, and he let out a soft hiss of annoyance.

Willowsplash moaned in pain.

"You're going to be okay," muttered Onyxshade. "You're going to be okay. Hang in there."

"Who…are…you?" gasped the she-cat.

"Just someone who helps out," Onyxshade replied simply, concentrating on the cobwebs.

"I thought ShadowClan didn't have a medicine cat."

"They do now." The cobwebs ripped again, and Onyxshade's paws shook as he tried again. What if he couldn't save her? What if she died? _Then she'll live a peaceful life in StarClan._

"Onyxshade?" a voice asked. Onyxshade whipped around, heart pounding. Two yellow eyes glowed in the dark.

"Owlfur?" he asked cautiously.

"Yeah," Owlfur whispered. Beside her was another tom: Jumpingtail!

"Three medicine cats," Jumpingtail meowed, and the two headed over to Willowsplash. Owlfur had brought along extra cobwebs, and she added them to Willowsplash's wounds.

"Did you give her the marigold?"

"Yes," replied Onyxshade. "And the burdock root."

Owlfur nodded. "You are a true medicine cat. Robinfeather alerted me about you. Jumpingtail was nearby to hear it."

Jumpingtail nodded to Willowsplash's wound. "This looks serious."

Owlfur meowed, "it is."

Together, the three medicine cats worked to bind Willowsplash's wound together. Then, Owlfur helped her to her paws.

"I'll take her to my den," she meowed. "You guys…go back. Serve your Clan."

Onyxshade nodded. "Thanks."

"Thank you," rasped Willowsplash.

Onyxshade jumped back into the battle…only to be met by Hawksplash.

"What were you doing in there?" snarled the tabby tom.

"We saw a RiverClan warrior sneaking under there, trying to escape," Jumpingtail cut in, not missing a beat. "We gave chase, and she ran away."

"Where is she now?"

"I don't know. Back in the battle, I think."

Hawksplash narrowed his eyes at them. "What did she look like?"

"Tabby," Onyxshade meowed at once.

"Willowsplash," Hawksplash muttered, and left. Onyxshade's blood ran cold. Glancing at Jumpingtail, they leapt together—

"STOP!" a voice yowled. All the cats froze, even the ShadowClan warriors. Onyxshade looked to the source; there was the RiverClan leader Swiftstar, standing upon a rock with Foxstar beside her. "This is a battle we cannot win. We will lose more warriors—"

_Warriors have already died?_ Onyxshade exchanged a shocked look with Jumpingtail.

"—if we continue this bloodshed. RiverClan will cede its territory to ShadowClan and become one Clan under Foxstar. You shall call me by my warrior name, Swiftfoot."

Hushed gasps were met by all the warriors. RiverClan was part of ShadowClan now?

* * *

><p>Foxstar had called a meeting with The Darkness immediately the next day.<p>

"It was a good battle," he meowed simply. Flintfire sat in the back, having to stand up to see the leader.. The Darkness had now expanded even more: more RiverClan warriors had joined now that they were part of ShadowClan. RiverClan still hunted and acted like a Clan, but ShadowClan warriors were allowed to go over anytime. Flintfire had visited a few times, though reluctantly. He couldn't stand the fishy smell. Aspenheart had been appointed sub-leader of RiverClan, though when Flintfire visited Swiftfoot was giving out orders, still, and the russet warrior stood to the side, looking uncomfortable.

It seemed like most of the new Darkness warriors were here because they wanted a safe path; if they were ever going to rebel, which was not likely, then they certainly didn't want to get killed.

_ A good choice._ Flintfire remembered injuring most of the warriors severely in the battle; after the situation with Whitestag and Silverbriar, he didn't have the heart to actually kill them. Plus, there might still be chance that he could get into StarClan, despite what Thistlestar had said.

"We must begin training immediately," Foxstar meowed softly. "Our next target is WindClan."

* * *

><p><strong>Accepting OC's in my next story!<strong>

** ~Silentecho**


	25. The Gathering of Three

This was the first time it happened. Two Clans merged as one under force. RiverClan and ShadowClan had united before, but Tigerstar had used persuasion. And the four Clans had banded together many times: to defeat Scourge the rouge, to make the Great Journey, and to fight the Great Battle. But these were not desperate times like before; this was just tyranny.

Onyxshade was still finding it hard that they could just walk around on RiverClan territory anytime, any day. RiverClan cats were even allowed on ShadowClan land on occasions, but Foxstar had feared they would explore the territory and use it against ShadowClan, so he'd only allow the senior RiverClan Darkness warriors like Foamwhisker, Redstorm, Gartertail, and Brightgorse. Onyxshade felt uncomfortable around these cats; they reminded him of Foxstar and Flintfire, always mean and arrogant.

Aspenheart had been made in charge of RiverClan, and Onyxshade only constantly wandered onto the wet marshland territory to see his former mentor.

"Hello, Onyxshade." Aspenheart sounded tired as Onyxshade made his way to RiverClan camp. Swiftfoot was standing in the clearing, giving orders.

"Hi," Onyxshade greeted. "What's up?"

"I was going to retire," the reddish tom sighed, "and become an elder. Foxstar wouldn't let me…said he needed me at his side."

Onyxshade narrowed his eyes and looked closer at Aspenheart. For the first time, he noticed gray hairs mixed in with the sleek red fur, and the dullness of age in his former mentor's eyes. He was weak-legged and he was breathing rather heavily.

"Why don't you just tell Swiftfoot?" asked Onyxshade, alarmed.

Aspenheart shook his head. "And give away information to the enemy? No way."

"Go rest with the elders," Onyxshade suggested, "I'll take it from here."

Aspenheart nodded. "I give you permission to run RiverClan," he meowed, and hobbled away. "Thanks."

Onyxshade blinked after him and turned his head to the bustling camp. It had gotten like ShadowClan camp: a blanket of nervousness hung in the air. Cats padded in, dropped the prey onto the pile, and looked around awkwardly. The Darkness warriors seemed carefree, but the others were unsure and tensed.

"Where's Aspenheart?" asked Swiftfoot, padding up.

Onyxshade angled his ears towards Aspenheart. "Over there resting. I'm in charge for now. What do you want?"

Swiftfoot narrowed her eyes. "How is he?"

Onyxshade tilted his head, wondering why a RiverClan cat, especially a leader, would be concerned. "Fine. Why?"

Swiftfoot shifted her gaze towards her former Clan. "We are four Clans sharing one forest. It is hard to ignore the natural hatred and rivalry we have towards each other. Yet, this is what binds us together. We are the four Clans that constantly fight for food. Occasionally, we band together. That is what makes warrior life so exciting. Yes, there are risks and bloodshed, but it's worth it at most times. And now, I sense that this adventurous life is coming to an end."

* * *

><p>Flintfire listened as Foxstar rattled off tactics and strategies for next moon's WindClan battle. They weren't even supposed to be talking about battles and war; it was a Gathering night. <em>And tonight, the other Clans are going to know about the Shadow-RiverClan.<em> Foxstar had named the joining FoxClan, after himself, of course.

It was a very hot day; it was summer time, and the sun was up high. Flintfire wished he could shed some fur. Up ahead, Scorchwhisker and Slatefoot were huddled up together. Flintfire narrowed his eyes at them; it was weird, seeing two _male_ cats together, when it wasn't even cold. They weren't brothers, either.

"The cats going to the Gathering will be Aspenheart, Flintfire, Onyxshade, Jaggedleaf, Raggedlion, Wolftail, Hawksplash, Kinkwhisker, Scorchwhisker, Owlshadow, Fallenshadow, Slatefoot, Vixenclaw, and Littlesage.

"From RiverClan, Redstorm, Brightgorse, Rockblaze, Gartertail, Splashfoot, Breezetail, Spottedpelt, Tawnyhawk, and Frozennose. Frostfurze, run to RiverClan and alert them of that."

Frostfurze nodded and left, pelting out of the camp.

"This meeting is dismissed," drawled Foxstar, and leapt off the Tall Oak. He quickly padded out of camp and headed towards RiverClan. Flintfire returned his gaze two Scorchwhisker and Slatefoot, whose heads were now pressed together. What was up with those two? Sure, he had seen them casting glances at each other across the clearing, but now what was this?

Flintfire followed the stream of warriors to the Gathering spot. Padding cautiously behind Slatefoot, he saw Scorchwhisker teeter a bit ahead of Slatefoot on the fallen log.

"Careful," Slatefoot murmured. "You don't want to fall in."

"Why are there only three leaders?" asked a WindClan tom.

_We're going for you next,_ thought Flintfire nastily.

"Yeah, where's Swiftstar?" questioned another WindClan warrior.

"Silence." Foxstar's meow rang throughout the clearing. The cats quieted down, though many of ThunderClan and WindClan looked around, confused. The ShadowClan cats held their heads up high and proud, but the RiverClan warriors, mostly Darkness warriors, bowed their heads and refused to look up in shame.

Beetlestar stepped forward, eyes narrowed. "Where is Swiftstar?"

"She could not come tonight. I am here to represent both my Clan and RiverClan, which we have now decided to call FoxClan."

Hushed gasps rippled throughout the other two Clans. RiverClan had fallen to ShadowClan.

"What is the meaning of this, Foxstar?" demanded Adderstar of WindClan. "There have been four Clans and there will always be."

"Swift_foot_ has agreed to step down," Foxstar meowed calmly. No one dared to shout out. He turned back to the audience. "FoxClan is doing better than ever. We—"

"This Gathering is not complete without the fourth leader!" interrupted Adderstar, his eyes blazing with anger. "WindClan, we are _leaving_! This is not the will of StarClan!"

Flintfire, like every warrior, glanced up to the sky. The moon was still shining.

"Have the clouds and stars not made it clearer, Adderstar?" Foxstar asked quietly, the burning intensity returning to his fiery amber eyes.

Adderstar, too, glanced up. "Then it is the will of StarClan for WindClan to leave." He jumped down from the Great Oak and his Clan followed him silently.

"I think we will leave too," growled Beetlestar, and lead ThunderClan away.

"Then we will head back also," Foxstar meowed calmly. He called out. "From now on, there will be no more Gatherings."

Beetlestar and Adderstar turned to look at him, anger burning in both pairs of eyes.

"Agreed."


	26. Taken

_No more Gatherings?_ Onyxshade thought in disbelief. Gatherings were a usual ritual among the Clans… it was the only time there was actually _peace_.

Foxstar's lazy gaze swept his fellow FoxClan warriors. "We are going to take WindClan _today_," he meowed slowly. "Foxstar Formation two."

There was a rumble as all the warriors stood up and formed the bristling wall of fur and claws. Onyxshade wove through the tangle of cats and found his position between Kinkwhisker and Ashwhisker. Together, the FoxClan warriors locked their shoulders together and marched towards WindClan territory.

A new smell washed over Onyxshade; the light stench of the wind and rabbits. Onyxshade wrinkled his nose.

"Attack," came Foxstar's voice from the front of the patrol.

The Foxstar Formation warriors pushed forward; they formed a large wall, with six warriors in each row, making up eight rows, so forty-eight cats. The first two rows split and headed up front to block the warriors; the next row ran to the far side, and Onyxshade's row took the rear (again). The last two rows blocked the main entrance.

Adderstar surrendered almost immediately.

"Okay, okay," panted the mottled tom, "WindClan will become part of FoxClan. I can't take any more bloodshed… just make sure…my warriors don't die unresonably."

Foxstar stepped forward. "Step down from your position, Adderface?"

Adderface nodded. "I do."

* * *

><p>They took ThunderClan just as easily. Four days after the invasion of WindClan, they ambushed ThunderClan at night, and Beetlestar had already been waiting in the clearing.<p>

Now the territory was completely under Foxstar's control. All the Clans had merged as one, and it seemed hopeless that anyone who would rebel would win; the Darkness was growing rapidly, and unless you wanted a quick death, joining the Darkness was the best option.

One Clan meant no more borders; there were no longer border tussles or Clan arguments. The Clans usually kept to themselves, but ShadowClan warriors were free to wander. Occasionally, Aspenheart, Raggedlion, or Wolftail would come over to Foxstar to report. Foxstar had replaced the previous leaders with his highest ranking Darkness warriors. Onyxshade knew that Aspenheart secretly let Swiftfoot do everything; ThunderClan and WindClan, though, were completely under Raggedlion and Wolftail's rule, respectively.

Onyxshade still acted as an undercover for ShadowClan medicine cat, along with Jumpingtail. ShadowClan cats had seemed to toughen it out, as they rarely got sick. And with no more borders to patrol, all they had were warrior duties. There were no prophecies.

"Have you abandoned us, StarClan?" murmured Onyxshade.

"You must find your own path," another voice whispered behind him. Onyxshade turned. It was Jumpingtail.

"This is StarClan's way of telling us that?" muttered Onyxshade angrily.

Jumpingtail looked sad and shook his head. "Being a medicine cat isn't just about healing. We are just as important as the leader and deputy. We are the core that binds the Clan together. We interpret prophecies that could save or destroy the Clan. In a way, the responsibility of everyone's lives weighs down on us. By healing, prophecizing, and just being here for advice is just as important as the leader leading the Clan and making decisions on behalf of all the cats."

Onyxshade slowly nodded, because Jumpingtail was right. He turned to face the FoxClan warriors. "The Clans are forever destroyed."

Jumpingtail shook his head again. "You can't believe that."

"You don't?"

"We must hope," he insisted. "Hope is what keeps us strong. As long as we hope, there's always a solution. I think it was um… Twigstar of WindClan that once meowed, 'when there's a will, there's a way.'"

"Well, no one has any will but you," Onyxshade meowed miserably. Thunderstar, Windstar, Riverstar, and Shadowstar had worked so hard to establish Clan rules, the code, the Clans, the roles of everyone. And now all that was wrecked.

Jumpingtail gazed at him sadly. "You just have to believe."

* * *

><p><strong>Accepting OC's for my next story. Include name, gender, discription, personality, otherwise I will chose for you. If you want to give one, please PM me. Thank you for your consideration! Thank you for all the reviews! Keep them going! ^^<strong>

** ~Silentecho**


	27. Look to the Sky

Flintfire looked up from his conversation with Talloak the former WindClan deputy as Littlesage pelted into the moor.

"Foxstar is calling a Clan meeting at the island," he panted.

"WindClan, to me!" yowled Wolftail, signaling the Clan with his tail. WindClan obediently followed the silver tom out of camp. Adderface padded at the back of the crowd.

The others were already there. Foxstar's gaze swept WindClan. The russet warrior was standing on top of the Great Oak, alone."Everything going well, Wolftail?"

"Yes, Foxstar," Wolftail meowed excitedly.

Foxstar said nothing and shifted his gaze down to two cats who sat at the front of everyone—Scorchwhisker and Slatefoot. Both looked nervous and shaking. What were they doing there? They weren't part of the Darkness.

"You are about to see," Foxstar began quietly and slowly, his words slurring, "what happens sinning cats in my Clan."

_Sinning? What did Scorchwhisker and Slatefoot ever do?_ Flintfire wondered.

As if to answer his question, Foxstar continued. "These cats have fallen in love with each other. Two male cats. Unacceptable. " He jumped down from the Oak and his claws shot out, the redness of blood gleaming in the pale sliver of moonlight. With a faint shriek, Scorchwhisker crumpled, his throat slit. Blood welled and started to spill out onto the grass; the warriors gasped and backed up.

"N-no!" Slatefoot gasped. "Please! It's not our fault! We were born this way!" He stumbled up and backed away, ears flat.

"You can't change now," rasped Foxstar. "It's your turn. Join your partner."

"Never!" Slatefoot cried. "This isn't what Scorchwhisker would've wanted. He said if one of us died then the other would go on!"

Foxstar lashed out. Slatefoot fell beside Scorchwhisker, eyes dull, throat slashed open in the same brutal way. Foxstar narrowed his eyes at the other warriors.

"Other cats like this will be reported to me," he meowed quietly. "I call the elders to come and bury these bodies. The rest of you are dismissed."

No one said a word as they left. Flintfire followed the stream of ThunderClan cats home, and not even Raggedlion meowed. Two murders at a sacred place? It was most unheard of, and StarClan would surely be angered. But Foxstar wasn't afraid of anything, not even StarClan.

* * *

><p>The deaths of Scorchwhisker and Slatefoot struck hard in Onyxshade's mind. He hadn't seen them together often, and never imagined that two male cats could fall in love. Or two female cats. It was unheard of.<p>

"F-Foxstar?" stammered a voice behind Onyxshade. He turned, and so did Foxstar, a few tail-lengths away, talking with Aspenheart. Both brothers narrowed their eyes. It was Mothflight, the ThunderClan medicine cat.

"What?" Foxstar tipped his head, his fiery gaze boring into the golden brown she-cat.

"I was um, wondering if I could go to the Moonpool tonight? It's half-moon."

"No." Foxstar turned away. "We are cutting off all communications with StarClan."

Mothflight nodded, shocked with silence, and turned and left. Foxstar turned back to Aspenheart. Onyxshade glanced over his shoulder, then padded after Mothflight quickly. Paw steps behind him told him that Jumpingtail was trailing them.

"Mothflight!" Onyxshade called out. Mothflight turned.

"What?" her eyes were sad.

"Go," he urged.

"I can't," she meowed miserably, "Foxstar said no."

"And you listen to him?" snorted Onyxshade.

"We have to," Mothflight replied, her eyes stretching wide. "Don't you?"

"No," Jumpingtail interjected. "We listen to the medicine cat code."

Mothflight was silent. "I was named after Mothwing, the RiverClan medicine cat who didn't believe in StarClan," she finally meowed. "She was a medicine cat but only listened to herself and what she believed in. I must live up to that name. I will go with you."

Onyxshade nodded. "Good. Now, go tell the others to meet us at the Moonpool. We've got some ancestors to talk to."

* * *

><p>"Okay, it's safe, let's go," whispered Onyxshade to Jumpingtail. They were crouching in the bushes, and Foxstar had just come to rest. The steady rise and fall of his russet body told them that he was fast asleep. The coast was clear.<p>

"I wish we hadn't waited at ShadowClan camp," Jumpingtail grumbled.

"Yeah, but Spiderclaw had a cold," Onyxshade reminded him. They silently left the camp and padded past the rock wall, their claws scraping against the smooth stone. The moonlight lit their path as they picked their way around the familiar trees, bushes, pebbles, and branches.

A tree rustled.

"Do you hear something?" Jumpingtail stopped, ears pricked.

"No," Onyxshade meowed, confused. "It must be the wind."

They stopped, and there was no noise. They continued on, walking more carefully.

"Onyxshade? Jumpingtail?" a voice behind them snarled. They turned. It was Daisyfur, the WindClan medicine cat.

"It's okay, they're secret medicine cats," Owlfur meowed, padding up behind her.

"Everyone here?" asked Mothflight, joining them with her apprentice, Kestrelpaw.

"Yes," the medicine cats chorused in union.

"All right, then." Mothflight lay down. Onyxshade lapped up the Moonpool's water and closed his eyes.

* * *

><p>He was standing in the ShadowClan meadow. A cold breeze chilled him. StarClan did not feel this way. What was going on?<p>

He shivered as he padded across the tall meadow. Gray clouds rumbled overhead, a storm threatening to brew. The stars glimmered faintly in the sky.

"Thistlestar?" he yowled over the howling wind. "Whitestag? Silverbriar!"

A ginger pelt flashed by.

"Scorchwhisker?" he called out. The ginger tom turned, indeed Scorchwhisker.

"Hello," the former ShadowClan warrior greeted miserably.

"Are you okay?" questioned Onyxshade, sincerely concerned. He looked around. "Why is StarClan like this?"

"Foxstar has united all the Clans," Scorchwhisker meowed darkly, "and so our legacy is destroyed. StarClan may be one Clan, but we all were rivals once then. Now, we are not, and our job to watch over the cats is ruined."

"So you're giving up on us?" cried Onyxshade.

Scorchwhisker didn't reply for a long time.

"No," he meowed finally. "We know there is help."

"What? Really? Who?"

"Foxstar is sure prejudiced, hm?" Scorchwhisker meowed with a harsh laugh. Onyxshade shook his head at the deliberate change of topic.

"All you did was love," Onyxshade meowed sadly. "I'm sorry."

"The 'wrong' type, I'm afraid," Scorchwhisker added. "But I'm fine now. At least I'm free from Foxstar. I wish you were too, but StarClan has to let the Clans figure out their own path."

"That's what everyone says!" fumed Onyxshade, his temper returning. He was frustrated that StarClan kept speaking in riddles. "I get that we have to walk our own path, but can you at least point us out on the right direction?"

"We have given all we can," Scorchwhisker meowed gently, and Thistlestar emerged from the nearby bushes. Onyxshade nodded a greeting.

"Remember the prophecy," the black-and-white tom whispered.

Whitestag and Silverbriar slid out of the trees, followed by Slatefoot. Sootfang the elder also joined them along with Brackenheart and Minttooth, the two "traitors." More and more cats padded out of the woods. Onyxshade realized that they were the warriors who had been murdered by Foxstar and his cronies.

He sucked in a breath. The group was bigger than he'd imagined. How could Foxstar be so brutal? _Who's next?_

"_The fox of the stars will be crushed under the strength of the rock, and the boulder of the night will perish by the fury of the hawk,_" they chanted ominously. Onyxshade shivered as the prophecy echoed in his head.

Silverbriar stepped forward. "We will give you one last clue," she announced. "Look to the sky for help."

"I already am!" Onyxshade meowed, frustrated. "I'm looking to you!"

Silverbriar shook her tabby head. "We are the stars and not the sky. Look beyond your territory."

* * *

><p>Onyxshade circled the ShadowClan camp anxiously. He had not shared his dream with anyone, not even Jumpingtail. What was the sky, then? The clouds? He looked up at the clear, blue sky. There were no clouds.<p>

So what did Silverbriar mean?

Onyxshade sighed and walked out of ShadowClan camp, desperate to get away. He found himself walking towards RiverClan camp.

"Hello, Aspenheart," greeted Onyxshade as he padded towards the spry reddish tom.

"Onyxshade," greeted Aspenheart. "Anything you want to know?"

Onyxshade paused, not sure why he was really here. Finally, he blurted out, "tell me a story."

Aspenheart purred for the first time in moons, and crouched down. Onyxshade crouched beside him.

"All right, then," Aspenheart began, "I will tell you more about Firestar."

"Was Firestar a good leader?"

"Oh, yes," Aspenheart replied, "he saved not only four Clans, but five."

"StarClan?" guessed Onyxshade.

Aspenheart shook his head. "Not StarClan. This is the story I am going to tell you…"

Onyxshade settled down. In the ShadowClan camp, none of the elders had told nursery tales because of fear of Foxstar. The russet warrior didn't let anyone tell stories about anyone else but himself. Onyxshade had looked up to him that day…

"…back in the old forest, there lived five Clans: ShadowClan, ThunderClan, WindClan, RiverClan, and the fifth Clan, SkyClan."

Onyxshade felt a jolt up his spine. The sky! SkyClan!

"When the Twolegs took over SkyClan territory, the other Clans forced SkyClan to leave, as they had nothing to spare to them. Cloudstar, the current SkyClan leader, swore never to follow or believe in StarClan again. They found a new home… but many of them left and went their own ways.

"Firestar received dreams to rebuild this lost Clan. He set out with his mate, Sandstorm, to gather all the cats (and more) who had SkyClan blood running in them, and formed a new SkyClan. Leafdapple was selected by StarClan to become leader… and thus began the new Clan."

_This is it,_ Onyxshade thought. _I must find SkyClan and ask for their help!_

* * *

><p><strong>Another cliffhanger! Hahahahaha!<strong>

** ~Silentecho **


	28. SkyClan

Onyxshade checked his remaining herbs he had borrowed from the medicine cats. He hadn't told them where he was going, but they all suspected the Moonpool. He hadn't told anyone where he was headed, but he didn't know himself, either.

"Where are you going?" a voice asked behind him. He turned around, heart pounding. It was Cloudrye, standing a few tail-lengths away, eyes narrowed.

"Um…" Onyxshade faltered. "To uh, WindClan."

"Oh," Cloudrye meowed lightly, not putting off his gaze, "I'm going there too. I'll come with you."

"Ok…sure." Now he had no choice but to go along with his lie, and the two headed towards RiverClan.

"Why do you have these herbs?" Cloudrye asked.

"Um, because I was um, helping Daisyfur?" stammered Onyxshade, his statement looping into a question.

With a move like lightning, Cloudrye pinned Onyxshade to the ground. "Tell me what you are up to!"

Onyxshade could feel the sharp claws digging into his throat, and gasped for breath. "Received a message…go to SkyClan for help…"

Cloudrye released Onyxshade in confusion. "What?"

Onyxshade had no choice but to tell Cloudrye about his dream, SkyClan, and Aspenheart's story.

"I don't know where to start, though," he meowed.

To his surprise, Cloudrye shrugged. "Look for a sign from StarClan."

Onyxshade raised his head. Cloudrye was _helping _him?

Suddenly, out from the bushes burst Hawksplash and Wolftail, with two other WindClan warriors Onyxshade recognized from Gatherings as the dynamic duo of Quillfur and Eagleclaw. They were about as good fighters together as Flintfire and Cloudrye (before they split, of course).

Wolftail stalked forward, his eyes blazing. Behind him, Hawksplash watched with a smirk. What was going on?

"Ah, caught in the act!" Wolftail snarled.

Onyxshade realized what was going on. His heart dropped like a stone, and a cold shiver raced up his spine. He was carrying herbs!

"I wasn't—"

"Don't lie," Hawksplash growled, joining Wolftail shoulder-to-shoulder. "I saw you and your mouse-dung brother Jumpingtail heading towards the Moonpool."

Cloudrye gasped. "You defy—"

Onyxshade raised his chin to meet the Darkness warriors' proud gazes. "I play by my own rules, and that is the warrior code!"

"Well guess what, kit?" snorted Wolftail. "Here, your rules don't apply. Here, only Foxstar's does!" He lunged at Onyxshade with a snarl.

_This is it!_ Onyxshade thought. _I was so close! I almost found SkyClan! I could've saved them!_

He waited for the blow. Instead, there was nothing. He opened his eyes, not realizing he'd closed them.

Cloudrye was now grappling with Wolftail. Hawksplash, Quillfur, and Eagleclaw had a look of shock on their faces.

"Go! Go!" Cloudrye panted.

Onyxshade stood frozen. Then, he forced his paws to move.

Jumping onto Wolftail with a hiss, he pried the silver tom off of Cloudrye. Hawksplash snorted.

"All right, I'm finishing this!"

Sharp claws raked Onyxshade's flank, and he jumped up with a yowl. It was two against four rather superb warriors. Onyxshade prepared to meet StarClan as Quillfur lunged—

Instead, she yowled in pain. Onyxshade saw his death flash past him for the second time. Dawnclaw and Jumpingtail had joined in the fight. His two littermates were each fighting the two twins, their moves well matched, but not good enough. With a powerful swipe, Eagleclaw sent Dawnclaw flying.

"Dawnclaw!" cried Jumpingtail, evading Quillfur's long claws just in time.

Onyxshade nudged Cloudrye to his paws. "Let's go!"

"Where?" Cloudrye looked around wildly.

"Just go!" Onyxshade gave the white tom a shove. He dragged Dawnclaw to her paws and Jumpingtail followed. "Come on!"

He could hear the four Darkness warriors' pawsteps behind them. "Hurry!"

Quickly, Cloudrye jumped onto a tree and started climbing. Onyxshade followed, and Jumpingtail and Dawnclaw trailed them.

"Where are they!" growled Quillfur, stopping below them.

"Shh!" Onyxshade whispered. "WindClan can't climb! Let's just follow the river and go!"

They silently leapt from tree to tree, and the river soon opened up. Jumping in with a splash, Onyxshade tried to ignore the disgusting, wet feeling the river was having on him.

"Onyxshade?" Jumpingtail asked after a while of walking nonstop in the river, just going along with the flow.

"Hm?"

"When I was dreaming at the Moonpool, this cat came up to me."

"What was his name?" asked Onyxshade, now listening.

"Slatefoot. It was the cat who got killed. He said to follow the river to reach the sky. I don't know what that means."

Onyxshade's eyes widened. Follow the river!

Quickly, he told the others about SkyClan. They all bristled at the thought of encountering a totally different Clan, but they had no other choice.

The four passed many Twoleg horseplaces. On one side of a wooden block were black-and-white animals. On their side was the river, which had narrowed into a creek, and a small Thunderpath.

* * *

><p>The next day, they finally made it past the horseplaces, but it was already dark by the time the last horse disappeared.<p>

"I think there was a horseplace where we were," recalled Dawnclaw. "But it got taken down. The horses and their Twolegs all moved."

"Where, though?" asked Onyxshade. He'd never seen the horseplace back near WindClan, where it was now a full-grown forest with tall trees, but many warriors said it was there before.

They arrived at a Twolegplace. Onyxshade's heart sank at the thought of sleeping there tonight.

"Let's see if we can make it out of here," whispered Cloudrye.

The four quickly padded through the Twolegplace, which had many towering buildings, their energy fading quickly.

"I can't go on," panted Jumpingtail after a while. "I wish we'd brought herbs."

"Me too," Onyxshade meowed. "But I lost them in the fight with the four Darkness warriors."

"We need to find shelter," Dawnclaw meowed, looking around. The Twolegs barely noticed them, but their paws were huge and they constantly had to dodge them.

"Let's head down this alley," Jumpingtail suggested, flicking his tail towards a narrow path between two buildings. The four followed him down the dark path. Onyxshade shivered at the chill.

"Who's there?" a sharp voice suddenly meowed.

"Passing by," Cloudrye called out nervously, "who are you?"

A cat landed in front of them, his body rather plump. Were Twolegplace cats always this well fed?

"My name is Coal," he meowed shortly. "And you are…?"

"Onyxshade," Onyxshade meowed, stepping forward.

Coal narrowed his eyes. "Warriors again! From ThunderClan, I believe?"

Onyxshade looked at the others in surprise. How did he know about the Clans, when they were so far away? Unless…

"No, we're from ShadowClan. Do you know of a Clan called—"

"SkyClan?"

"Yes!" Onyxshade burst out excitedly.

"Of course," Coal meowed curtly. "We were once part of it."

"We?" Cloudrye asked.

Three other cats padded into view: two brown toms and a she-cat.

"This is Stick, Shorty, and Cora," Coal meowed. "We can show you the way to SkyClan tomorrow. Beware, they are a hard Clan to please."

* * *

><p>Stick, the leader, roused them early to bring them to SkyClan. The four groggily ate rats the rouges had caught and followed Stick and Coal out of the Twolegplace.<p>

They arrived at a forest, which thinned and disappeared, revealing a gorge like ThunderClan's. Below, cats moved about.

A large ginger tom emerged from a cave in the rock. He looked up and spotted the cats, and jumped nimbly from rock to rock, up a path. A tortoiseshell she-cat padded out from the same den and followed, her steps just as light and sure-footed as his.

"Who are you?" the ginger tom meowed, his eyes narrowed. He nodded at Stick and Coal.

Onyxshade stepped forward. "My name is Onyxshade, and this is my brother, Jumpingtail. Dawnclaw here is my sister, and Cloudrye is my friend. We are here from ShadowClan. Our leader, Foxstar, has taken over all the Clans and life is horrible. We are here to plead your help."

The ginger tom nodded, and the tortoiseshell had joined him.

"Welcome to SkyClan," he began. "This is my mate Cherrytail, and my name is Sharpstar."


	29. A Quick Tour

Sharpstar bade Coal and Stick good-bye at the entrance of the gorge and lead the four ShadowClan warriors down the rocky slope. Cats cast curious glances at them.

"So, this Foxstar," Sharpstar muttered, "he has taken over all the Clans?"

"Yes," Onyxshade replied.

"Life is horrible. There are no more Gatherings and no more border tussles," Dawnclaw sighed. "It's so boring. But one wrong move and you're dead."

Sharpstar looked sympathetic. "Then life is different here, you shall see."

The ginger tom jumped onto a pile of rocks. "All who are old enough to climb a tree, please join me at the Rockpile for a Clan meeting!"

The SkyClan cats clustered together beneath the Rockpile. Onyxshade and the others stood awkwardly to the side.

"As you see," Sharpstar meowed, his deep voice ringing throughout the gorge, "we have visitors."

Anxious mutters rose from the warriors.

"I hope they don't know Sol," muttered a skinny black tom to a creamish tom.

"Yeah," the cream tom meowed back, "remember how much mayhem he caused."

"Quiet!" snapped Sharpstar's voice from the Rockpile. "They are warriors from ShadowClan. Please respect them like you will with any of us. Shrewtooth and Egg, you will be responsible for showing them around. The rest of you, return to your warrior duties."

The black tom, Shrewtooth, sighed and stood up. Onyxshade guessed that Egg was the cream tom.

"You are warriors?" asked Shrewtooth curiously. "What's it like there?"

"We don't know before," sighed Jumpingtail, "but horrible now. We've got this leader named Foxstar. He's taken over all the Clans."

"That's horrible!" Egg meowed, his tail lashing.

"Well, we'll show you around," Shrewtooth said. They padded around, introducing them. Onyxshade only rememebered a couple names: Ebonyclaw, a "daylight" warrior, a half kittypet and half warrior, Harveymoon, also a daylight warrior, Macfoot, Harveymoon's housemate, Frecklewish the medicine cat, Shrewtooth and Egg, Rockshade, Bouncefire, Tinycloud, who was Shrewtooth's mate, Plumwillow, who was Egg's mate, Harrypelt, Fireflight, Stormrush and the deputy, Billystorm. Billystorm had also been a daylight warrior, and Onyxshade wondered why a daylight warrior would be deputy.

"Being a warrior is not about blood," Sharpstar meowed, joining them, "but about your spirit as a warrior. Now that Billystorm is deputy, he has completely removed himself from his Twolegs."

"I remember when you didn't appreciate the daylight warriors," Shrewtooth meowed lightly.

"Ah, I was wrong," Sharpstar meowed softly. They padded on in silence, climbing the rocky slopes. The loose pebbles slipped below Onyxshade's paws, and beside him Cloudrye was puffing already. _How do SkyClan cats do this?_

"This is the warriors' den," Egg meowed as they arrived at a large cave in the rock wall. "Willowpaw and the other apprentices should be arriving soon."

Sure enough, a white she-cat bounded up the rock path quickly, followed by three others.

"I'm Willowpaw!" she meowed excitedly, bouncing on her paws.

"This is my hyperactive daughter," Shrewtooth meowed in an amused voice, "and this is my son, Furzepaw."

"Hi," Furzepaw greeted, wrinkling his nose at his sister's immaturity.

"We're here to build your nest," a dark tabby tom meowed. "Hi, I'm Ryepaw."

"And I'm Eaglepaw," a brown tom added, joining them.

"What's up?" asked a white tom emerging from the warriors' den. "I've already brought the moss over."

"Thanks, Harveymoon." Ryepaw nodded a grateful greeting. The white warrior shrugged.

"It's nothing."

"Harveymoon!" squealed a voice. A kit came tumbling up onto the slope, and skidded to a stop at Harveymoon's paws. The kit looked exactly like his father, only that it was a brown-and-gray color.

"Hello, Fleetkit," purred Harveymoon.

"Teach me to fight!" Fleetkit squeaked. Harveymoon picked him up.

"Come on," the white warrior laughed, "let's go…then…" his faltered. His ears flattened and his tail dropped in fear as a gray she-cat padded up after the kit.

"Harveymoon!" she meowed angrily. "How many times have I told you not to teach Fleetkit early!"

"I uh, wasn't going to," muttered Harveymoon, while Shrewtooth ducked behind Egg to keep from laughing.

The gray she-cat, Mintfur flicked her tail irritably. "Sure." She twined her tail with Harveymoon's and picked up Fleetkit and headed down the slope with Harveymoon in tow. The white warrior nodded a good-bye and headed after his family.

"So…" Shrewtooth shuffled his paws awkwardly.

"Go explore the camp," Sharpstar cut in. "Shrewtooth and Egg, I'd like you to get back to the patrols." The ginger tom disappeared over the rocks.

Shrewtooth shrugged. "Okay, then. Go ahead and look around."

"Oookay," Cloudrye meowed awkwardly once the SkyClan cats left. "They're sure friendly."

"We should still watch out a bit," muttered Dawnclaw. She picked her way cautiously down the rocky slope. It was nothing like the ThunderClan one, which was smooth and paved. Onyxshade followed, skidding down the rocks. Pebbles washed down with him, and he hissed in alarm.

The rocks took him all the way down to the bottom, where he immediately stopped.

"Watch it!" snarled a voice. Onyxshade jumped aside just in time as Jumpingtail slid down, tripped, and bumped his muzzle on the floor.

"Ouch."

"Ha!" Onyxshade purred in amusement.

"Whatever," Jumpingtail muttered in annoyance, and shook his pelt. "I'll go visit the medicine den."

"It's that way," a passing black tom Onyxshade remembered as Rockshade meowed. "I'll escort you."

"Thanks." Jumpingtail padded away with Rockshade.

"They even escort warriors to the medicine den?" asked Cloudrye in disbelief.

"Ah, the new cats," croaked an elder. He was black-and-white all over. "My name is Patchfoot. Have you ever heard of Sol?"

"Shrewtooth mentioned his name," recalled Dawnclaw. "But we don't know who he is."

"Sol came here," croaked Patchfoot. "He almost destroyed SkyClan. Once, Stick, Cora, Shorty, and Coal were here too. And they also almost destroyed SkyClan. We have been through a lot. We find it hard to trust."

Onyxshade nodded. "I'm sorry. We must look like another pair of intruders, waiting to wreck you."

Cloudrye let out a bitter laugh. "Trust us, we're already pretty wrecked back home."

Patchfoot nodded. "I'm sorry about Foxstar."

"It's all right," Onyxshade meowed. Patchfoot padded away and crouched down on a sunlit rock. Onyxshade looked at the others.

"Where to?" Dawnclaw finally asked.

"Um… let's go find Sharpstar and see what he can assign us. Maybe we can discuss what we want."

Several cats still cast suspicious but curious glances towards them. Onyxshade tried to look as innocent as possible.

"Um, excuse us, but where is the leader's den?" Cloudrye asked lightly, padding up to a dark tabby she-cat.

"Over there," the she-cat meowed stiffly. "I'll lead you there."

They followed the warrior over to a large rock with a small tunnel. At the entrance sat Sharpstar and the deputy, Billystorm.

"Lichenmask," Sharpstar greeted, while Billystorm nodded. "And…ah, the newcomers."

"I am only here to escort," Lichenmask replied, dipping her head. She quickly left, casting a glance over her shoulder.

"Billystorm and I have been discussing," Sharpstar meowed once Lichenmask was out of earshot, "what is it that you really want? For us to battle?"

"For you to help us defeat Foxstar," Onyxshade meowed, "and yes, therefore to fight."

"And how do you expect us," Billystorm cut in, "to defeat him while three Clans have not?"


	30. Rocky

"Is Onyxshade here?" croaked a voice. Flintfire turned. It was Sheepfoot, the elder.

"Um, no," Flintfire replied. _Come to think of it, I haven't seen him anywhere._

"How about Jumpingtail?'

"Not him, either." _Where are they?_

Just then, Hawksplash padded into the camp. "Foxstar," he greeted, "I have news."

Foxstar gazed at him, the message in his eyes telling him to continue.

Hawksplash hesitated. "Remember how I told you about Onyxshade and Jumpingtail? We killed them. I mean, Wolftail, Quillfur, Eagleclaw, and I. Dawnclaw and Cloudrye got in the middle of the battle, so we had to kill them too."

Foxstar stared at Hawksplash, who gulped, then nodded slowly. "Good." He turned away and slowly sauntered back to his den.

_Cloudrye's _dead? Flintfire couldn't believe it. Even though he and Cloudrye had officially ended, Flintfire still felt as if a huge chunk had been taken out of his heart. Cloudrye was his last family member alive, and now he was gone. Onyxshade too, had even been considered a friend from time to time. The black tom had been patient with Flintfire, even with his crazy outbursts. Flintfire was officially alone.

Forever.

* * *

><p>"Well, StarClan sent us," Onyxshade meowed lamely to Billystorm and Sharpstar. The two exchanged glances.<p>

"StarClan? Your StarClan?" Sharpstar stood up. Billystorm looked uneasily at the four. Beside Onyxshade, Dawnclaw shuffled her paws.

"Yeah. They said 'look to the sky for help.' And then, this elder told me a story about Firestar and how he reformed SkyClan," Onyxshade meowed. "So I figured it must be you."

Sharpstar looked thoughtful for a moment, then looked directly at them, then Billystorm. Billystorm nodded a little.

"We will help you if you help us first," Sharpstar meowed.

"With what?" Cloudrye jumped in.

"We have been having problems with rouges," Sharpstar began. "They're stealing our prey, crossing the borders, and just attacking our warriors."

"Do you know a cat named Sol?" Billystorm asked sharply.

"Um, no," Dawnclaw stammered. Onyxshade guessed that this cat had caused a lot of mayhem within SkyClan; everyone seemed to hate him. "Should we?"

"Yeah, I do," Cloudrye suddenly meowed. "This one elder named Spiderclaw told me a story about a tortoiseshell named Sol. His grandfather Cedarheart, was in ShadowClan when Sol came along. It was really weird, Sol seemed to know everything about the Clans. He was spotted in ThunderClan, then left to ShadowClan. He nearly ruined us, Spiderclaw had said, because he convinced Blackstar to give up on StarClan, but with the help of some ThunderClan warriors, we drove him out.

Billystorm and Sharpstar exchanged bewildered glances.

"Then, he came back a while later. He tried to convince WindClan to attack ThunderClan, and this one cat named Hollyleaf from ThunderClan almost killed him. Sol said that the reason he came to destroy the warrior code was because of how some cats from a gorge treated him."

Silence followed Cloudrye's story. Onyxshade's heart pounded. _Because of how some cats from a gorge treated him._ _That's why he knows so much about the warrior's life._

"How did you treat him?" Jumpingtail finally asked quietly.

"He catnapped me and my littermates," meowed a cold voice behind them, and they all turned around. Standing in the way of the light was a gray-and-ginger she-cat.

"Stormrush," Sharpstar greeted. "You overheard?"

"Just the Sol story," Stormrush meowed stiffly.

"Come here, my daughter," Billystorm comforted, "he's not here."

Stormrush padded over to sit next to Billystorm. "But they are."

"I'm sure they aren't part of Sol's…group," Billystorm meowed uncomfortably. _Who are you trying to convince?_

"So you knew him?" Sharpstar asked sharply.

"No, only heard of him," Cloudrye meowed cautiously.

Sharpstar flicked his tail. "You will be assigned warrior duties, like you are in ShadowClan—er, FoxClan. And you will participate in the regular Clan training sessions and if you stay longer, Gatherings. We will treat you like we will any other warrior, no more and no less."

"And we the same, leader of SkyClan," Jumpingtail meowed, dipping his head.

Sharpstar nodded. "Good, I am glad to hear that. You will also give Billystorm his respect as deputy. Now…I suggest you go find a patrol to join." He nodded again. "I will be with the Clan shortly."

"Thank you, Sharpstar. You are most hospitable," Onyxshade meowed, and retreated out of the leader's den.

"Onyxshade and Cloudrye, you can join my patrol!" a tabby tom, Sparrowpelt, called. He padded up to them. "I'm in charge of the deputy duties while Billystorm's having a word with Sharpstar. He nodded to the other two ShadowClan warriors. "You can join Ducktail and Tinycloud's patrol." He flicked his tail towards a white she-cat and a cream tom.

"So, how is life in the Clans?" Sparrowpelt asked lightly as they explored the forest with Sparrowpelt's mate, Honeywhisker.

"Not good," Cloudrye replied. "That's why we're here. To receive help from you, SkyClan."

"We're just one Clan, though," Honeywhisker meowed, matching Billystorm's thoughts.

"Yes, but StarClan sent us a message," Onyxshade insisted. "You must be the key."

"Hang on," Sparrowpelt interrupted. He tensed, and Onyxshade tasted the air: eagle!

"Eagle!" he whispered frantically. Sparrowpelt nodded, and looked up. Right above them circled the great predator, a large speck in the sky.

"Is it Rocky?" asked Honeywhisker.

"Who's Rocky?" asked Cloudrye. _Yeah, who is Rocky?_

"I don't know," murmured Sparrowpelt. "Eaglepaw would know if he was here. Let's just lay low for now, just in case."

The eagle circled lower, and Sparrowpelt and Honeywhisker both crouched down, eyes narrowed. Onyxshade slid out his claws, and Cloudrye did the same.

With a great dive, the eagle landed before them. It was huge, with a wingspan bigger than Onyxshade's entire body. Even Foxstar couldn't have killed it if he tried.

"It is Rocky!" Honeywhisker exclaimed. "Hello."

The eagle made a sort of garbling sound, and Onyxshade realized that he could understand it.

"Hello," the eagle replied.

"Who is he?" whispered Cloudrye, eyes huge.

Rocky turned his way. "I am an ambassador creature, picked by your StarClan to represent the eagles."

"Ambassador creature?" questioned Onyxshade. He had never heard of one before.

"Have you heard of Midnight the badger?" asked Rocky.

"Yeah, didn't Fallenshadow tell us how Tawnypelt, Brambleclaw, Stormfur, Feathertail, Squirrelflight, and Crowfeather make the journey to the sun-down-place to meet her?" Dawnclaw recalled.

_Oh yeah._ The story came back to Onyxshade now. Midnight had told them that they had to move out of the forest and find the Lake.

"Yes, them," Rocky replied, and Sparrowpelt shuffled his paws awkwardly.

"Um…so… with all due respect, why are you here, Great Eagle?"

Rocky dipped his white head. "I was summoned by StarClan," he garbled.

"To do what?"

Rocky shrugged his wings. "I do not know. I felt the familiar tug of the stars, and followed my instincts. I told my eagles I had to go, and the tug led me here."

"Oh," Sparrowpelt meowed lightly.

"Being an ambassador creature is hard," Rocky continued, "for yourself and your Clan, Pack, Tribe, Flock, whatever. Many times, I had to sacrifice my eagles to teach cats how to survive. Long ago, my ancestor Scorch had to sacrifice himself in the mountains so the newcomers there knew how to hunt eagles and survive with us."

"Jay's Wing defeated the first eagle," Dawnclaw recalled. "Yeah, an elder told us _that_ too."

Rocky nodded. "That was Scorch, I believe."

"One eagle carried off a kit," Dawnclaw meowed, an accused glare at the large eagle.

Rocky shrugged. "It is part of life. When the cats don't learn quickly enough, we have to teach them in another way."

The patrol of cats exchanged glances.

"Do you have anything else to tell us?" asked Sparrowpelt, kneading his paws on the ground impatiently.

"Yes." Rocky looked directly at Onyxshade. He could feel the eagle's gaze piercing his fur, and felt it grow hot. "Look to the sky for help."

"But…" Onyxshade faltered as Rocky flew away. _We already have. We found SkyClan, didn't we?_


	31. Flintfire's Escape

"So um…what do you exactly plan to do about these rouges?" asked Onyxshade as he, Sharpstar, and the medicine cat Frecklewish sat side-by-side sorting herbs. The rest of his friends had proceeded to help with the warrior duties.

"Billystorm and I have been talking," Sharpstar meowed lightly, while Frecklewish listened closely. "Have you any ideas?"

"Well, there was this one time where this Clan of Twoleg cats who called themselves 'BloodClan' kept stealing food from ThunderClan, like these rouges," Onyxshade recalled, remembering the story. There had been many stories about Firestar the ThunderClan legacy. He had been born as a housecat and died as a warrior.

"That's them," Sharpstar meowed. "BloodClan. That's what they call themselves."

"Really?" asked Onyxshade. "I thought they discontinued it. Any way, Firestar launched a huge attack in the night and drove them out."

Sharpstar seemed to consider this. "I have been thinking about it, an ambush, but there's a lot of rouges and not a lot of us."

Onyxshade perked up. If there was one thing he learned from Foxstar, it was how to ambush and invade. He looked directly at Sharpstar. "Well then, let us show you how to attack and dominate, FoxClan style."

* * *

><p>"There are three good ways to ambush your opponent, and dominate," Cloudrye began. The four of them were standing on the Rockpile, addressing SkyClan, three days later. Onyxshade already felt like a leader. "The first way is to divide and conquer." He jumped down from the Rockpile and padded towards a group of cats. "If you, for example, want to attack um… Egg, here, then what happens is that the Clan divides to conquer. If Egg is the target, then Sparrowpelt here will creep around and take the front, while Honeywhisker sneak around Egg and take a flank. Ducktail takes the other flank, and Bouncefire attacks the back. You surround your enemy and then trap them.<p>

"The second way is to form an aggressive wall that intimidates your opponent. Warriors stand in rows and lock shoulders, fighting side by side. This tactic requires lots of watching the leader and compromising your steps.

"The third way starts the second way: you form the rows, march forward, and then the side stripes [columns] of the wall push forward, and the front and back fall back. The sides surround three sides of the enemy, while the front and back block the fourth side, trapping the enemy once again."

They had various warriors demonstrate, while the rest of the Clan looked on, interested.

"I think the first way will work," Billystorm meowed at last, with a glance at Sharpstar, "because they have a wall to their territory."

"All right then," Sharpstar yowled, stepping forward. "I will split these four cats up and there will be four training groups. These four training groups will be under the guidance of one of these ShadowClan cats and another SkyClan warrior.

"I would like Ebonyclaw, Shrewtooth, Buzzardflight, Ducktail, Egg, Eaglepaw, and Creekfeather to join Onyxshade's group. I would like Rockshade, Bouncefire, Sparrowpelt, Tinycloud, Furzepaw, Fireflight, and Rabbitleap to join Jumpingtail's group. Stormrush, Harveymoon, Ryepaw, Macfoot, Harrypelt, and Willowpaw, please join Cloudrye's group. Falconrush, Birdwing, Honeywhisker, Lichenmask, Loudwhisper, and Nettlesplash please join Dawnclaw's group. Shrewtooth, Sparrowpelt, Harveymoon, and Loudwhisper, please help the four ShadowClan warriors with our tactics. I think our ways are just a bit different from theirs."

The cats began to separate. Onyxshade stood below the Rockpile as his group flocked towards him. He looked around. Shrewtooth was in the front, and he nodded to the black tom.

"All right then, it's everyone? Let's go." With a flick of his tail, he summoned them. They followed him up the rocky path and out into the forest. He could see Cloudrye heading deeper, and Jumpingtail leading them away the opposite direction.

"Um…" Onyxshade paused once they were in the forest. Everyone's eyes were on him, and it was rather nerving. He glanced at Shrewtooth for help, and thankfully, the black tom stepped forward.

"We're going to play Clan invasion," Shrewtooth meowed confidently, and the warriors glanced one another. Shrewtooth looked around. "All right. See that big rock over there?" he pointed with his tail to a large boulder not far away. "I want Ducktail, Egg, Eaglepaw, and Ebonyclaw to head over to the boulder. They will be the rouges. The rest of us, including me, Buzzardflight, Creekfeather, and Onyxshade will be SkyClan. We will be pretending to invade these 'rouges' with the tactic Onyxshade taught us. Okay?"

The warriors nodded. Onyxshade felt relieved.

"All right, we'll switch after we're done. Go!"

Shrewtooth turned to Onyxshade. "What now?"

"Er…" he was back in charge again. "Okay, so we line up in rows of two. I'll go in the front with Buzzardflight, and you and Creekfeather will be in the back. Once we're there, we'll split up. Since you say there are only three sides, with the boulder as a 'wall', I will veer left and attack that side. Buzzardflight will advance left. Shrewtooth and Creekfeather, you guys push forward to press the enemy against the wall."

The three warriors exchanged glances but nodded enthusiastically. They headed into the woods, Onyxshade's heart pounding in excitement.

"Go," he whispered. They crept forwards, keeping their bodies low on the ground, then shot out suddenly with a flick of Onyxshade's tail as the signal. Onyxshade attacked the "rouges'" left side, while Buzzardflight swiped at their right. Shrewtooth and Creekfeather drove the "rouges" towards the wall, their blows matching, and finally, Onyxshade called a stop.

This was the first time that he had trained claws sheathed, and it was strange not to see some warrior collapse and writher on the ground in pain, blood soaking the grass. It was rather nice.

"Good, exactly what I wanted," he meowed. They switched groups, and the second group did just as well as the first.

"I think it will work," a voice meowed behind them. It was Sharpstar. "Cloudrye gave me a few tips also, as I was watching him a while ago. We will attack tomorrow."

* * *

><p>Flintfire perked up as Raggedlion called out his name. The shaggy golden tom was padding up to him, eyes blazing with excitement.<p>

"What is it?" Flintfire asked. Ever since the "death" of Grasshawk, he finally seemed to fit in.

"We've got another one loose," Raggedlion reported, his stinking breath washing over Flintfire. "WindClan she-cat, Palefur, I think."

"I thought WindClan cats were Quillfur and Eagleclaw's duties," Flintfire meowed back.

"They're out tracking Gartertail," Raggedlion replied. "We don't know where he went. _He_ was supposed to be tracking Logpelt, but he never returned. We can only hope he killed Logpelt, the traitor."

_Logpelt! Onyxshade's father. I hope—I hope he's dead._ Flintfire rather forced the thought into his head.

"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Flintfire meowed. "Let's go."

Raggedlion headed for the entrance without hesitation. "I think she went past the old horseplace, and down from there."

"Go there, then." They were on RiverClan territory. The pair padded past the old Gathering island and out. The smell of FoxClan faded (nowadays, all Clan scent had blended together, making one Clan indeed), and unfamiliar smells washed over him. Then, Flintfire caught the faint smell of a FoxClan warrior.

"There," he said, following smell. Raggedlion trailed him. A cold chill ran down his back. Trepidition…

Suddenly, he was pinned down by a strong force; Raggedlion!

"I know you didn't kill Greenhawk," the Darkness warrior snarled, his claws digging into Flintfire's fur. Sharp pain pricked him, but he was unable to move and thus defend himself.

"I…did…" he managed to gasp.

"You didn't," Raggedlion whispered hoarsely, "I know it. And so does the rest of the Darkness. You're a coward, Flintfire. You'll never be like us. I'd kill you right now, but if you can prove yourself by killing Palefur, then I'll spare you. Otherwise, don't come back, unless you want an early death. Run, little kit, run." He released Flintfire.

Heart pounding, Flintfire immediately jumped up and pelted away. He jumped into the creek to wash his fur of the scent and headed along the current, shaking.

* * *

><p>Flintfire walked past a long line of Twoleg "farms," as he'd heard some call them. Then, a towering Twolegplace came into view. The night was still young, and Flintfire was starving. He'd nothing for the entire day.<p>

_I wonder if there's rats or mice in the 'place,_ he wondered. Pushing forward wearily, he willed himself on. He was a loner now, with no Clan and no warrior code.

_No warrior code._ He could do whatever he wanted to! _I'm free! _

Excited, he walked faster. The stink of the Twolegs washed over him and he wrinkled his nose.

"Who's there?" a sharp voice asked. Flintfire froze.

"Uh…what?" he stammered.

"I asked, who's there?" the voice snapped.

"Why should I tell you?" Flintfire sassed back.

"This is our place." A ragged brown tom padded forward from the shadows. He was extremely skinny and ribs showed through his thin pelt, which seemed to cling to his skin. Though his eyes were tired and rather sad, they showed the fierceness of fighting. Scars distorted the tom's body, appearing all over the place. Flintfire suddenly wished he was back at ShadowClan territory, where there was now plenty of prey to go around.

"Who are you?" Flintfire asked arrogantly.

"Sloper," growled the tom. "An' you?"

"Flintfire," Flintfire replied.

"Another one of those warriors, eh?" he growled. "Escaped too?"

_Escaped! They must've all come here! Or, most of them._ "What do you mean?" he asked carefully.

"These strange cats with weird names like yours started turning up," Sloper meowed. "BloodClan has been getting bigger and bigger."

BloodClan. There had been terrifying nursery tales about these wild cats, scaring Flintfire. Just the name sent shivers down his spine.

"Come with me," Sloper meowed tiredly, "and maybe we can fit you in. If you survive, that is." He grinned, showing broken teeth.

Flintfire shuddered and followed Sloper down a narrow, stinking alley. Voices rang throughout the dark.

"New visitor!" Sloper yowled carelessly, and a few cats near the entrance turned. Others completely ignored Sloper. Flintfire glanced around nervously. There was no food. The place was cramped, and some cats were fighting over bones. Others gnawed on leftover Twoleg scraps, and some were just talking, fighting, or laughing wildly.

"Come with me," muttered Sloper. "I ought to take ya to the leader firs'." He had a rough, deep voice.

Flintfire followed the brown tom, squeezing past many cats, who didn't seem to care if he was new or not new. Perhaps there were just so many that they lost track of who was who.

"All right there, Sloper!" a she-cat yowled from about thirty tail-lengths away.

"Jus' fahn!" Sloper yowled back. Most of the warriors were about as skinny as Sloper, while others looked rather plump and well fed. Flintfire wondered how many were Clan cats like him.

"Stick?" grunted Sloper.

"What?" a darker brown tom turned and faced Flintfire. Flintfire gulped as Stick's glare swept over him. "Another one."

"Yeah," Sloper responded, backing away. "I'll leave yeh to be."

Stick nodded, then turned to Flintfire. "You here because of Foxstar?"

"Well… yeah, I guess." _Actually, I have a mission to track down a cat._

Stick shrugged. "Welcome to BloodClan, then."

"Why do you guys call it BloodClan?"

"Well, these two cats named Snake and Ice came over and started rearranging us. They called us 'BloodClan,' and they ruled for a while. Then, when they died, I took over with some of my friends."

"Oh," Flintfire meowed lightly, "okay then—"

"Food!" yowled a skinny tabby tom padding in. There was a huge rising block [kind of like a stage] above the main floor, and the entrance was up there. The tabby was flanked by six or seven other cats, each carrying a load of prey.

The cats started tossing out prey to the crowd below, who immediately started fighting. Flintfire and Stick watched on.

"Here ya go, Stick," a dirty white tom passing by meowed, tossing Stick a rat. Stick said nothing and dug in. Flintfire stood to the side.

"Where do you get all this food?"

"Around," replied Stick, "and from the warriors nearby."

"Warriors?" asked Flintfire. _Warriors? The rouges, or what?_ "What warriors?"

"You haven't heard about SkyClan?" replied Stick.


	32. New Arrivals

"All right," meowed Sharpstar. "You guys know what to do! Watch the leaders of your patrol, and everything will go well. The forest will be ours again!"

Approving yowls rose from the SkyClan warriors sitting below the Rockpile. Onyxshade's heart pounded with excitement. Tonight was the night they would defeat BloodClan!

"Are you ready?!" yowled Sharpstar.

Onyxshade called out with the rest of SkyClan a battle cry.

"Let's go, then!" Sharpstar meowed enthusiastically. He leapt off the Rockpile and took the lead, his Clan climbing the rock path behind him. Onyxshade was at the front of battle for the first time.

"Hope that this isn't a Foxstar battle," muttered Cloudrye beside him. Onyxshade nodded.

They marched into the forest silently, the excitement high in the air, along with tension.

Suddenly, a snarl ripped the air and something jumped out. Sharpstar immediately went down with the attacker and the two grappled around. Billystorm jumped forward and dragged the attacker off his leader.

It was a gray tom who looked very familiar. It was—

"Grasshawk?" Onyxshade stepped forward. The Clan was silent, holding its breath.

"Onyxshade," panted Grasshawk. Tiredness shown in his eyes, and he was the skinniest tom Onyxshade had ever seen (besides Coal and Stick).

"Are you okay?" asked Onyxshade.

Grasshawk glared at Onyxshade. "How could you join something like this? The Clans are horrible!"

"Don't say that," Jumpingtail meowed, stepping forward. The Clan held its breath. "Clan cats work together to support each other. We're a family."

"Yeah, but you aren't," sneered Grasshawk. "You're just a ragtag bunch of slimy Twolegplace rouges!"

"Rouges? Twolegplace? We live in the gorge," Sharpstar meowed, confused. "You must be mixing us up with BloodClan."

"Wait…so you _aren't_ BloodClan?" Grasshawk looked confused.

"No," Sharpstar meowed. "We're SkyClan."

Grasshawk's eyes widened. "SkyClan! I've heard about you! I never knew you guys were real!"

"Oh yes we are," Shrewtooth muttered behind Onyxshade.

"Then you've got to help me!" Grasshawk stammered. "I've been living in this forest all alone, since FoxClan started and some cats are out to kill me! And now BloodClan are attacking me every day and stealing my food."

Sharpstar looked sympathetic. "I'm sorry. Us, too. Join us and we will defeat them."

Grasshawk looked relieved. "Thank you!"

Sharpstar flicked his tail to Dawnclaw. "Tell him what to do." Dawnclaw nodded and the Clan marched on.

The stink of the Twolegplace washed over Onyxshade, and he wrinkled his nose. Shadows danced along the walls, and the sound of manic yowls of cats grew louder as they reached an alleyway.

"Quiet," whispered Sharpstar. Onyxshade could feel Grasshawk hyperventilating beside him, and he touched the gray tom's shoulder with his tail.

"We're going to defeat them," he comforted.

"Everyone know what to do," Sharpstar confirmed. It wasn't a question. "Attack!"

The BloodClan "camp" exploded with snarling SkyClan warriors. Onyxshade leapt forward and attacked a random tom, and they went down with a yowl. Suddenly, a familiar smell filled his nostrils.

"Flintfire?"

The tom he was grappling with was indeed Flintfire. How did he get here? Why was he here?

"Onyxshade," Flintfire snarled.

"What are you doing here?" Onyxshade dodged Flintfire's claws.

"I have to track down the traitors," Flintfire growled. "And kill them!"

"We aren't the traitors!" growled Onyxshade. "You are! You are the traitors to the warrior code! You and your Darkness cronies are just ruthless killers, and you know that."

Flintfire leered at him. "Of course we do."

Onyxshade looked around, and realized that they were the only ones talking. The rest of SkyClan were staring at them, openmouthed.

"Um…" Onyxshade glanced at them awkwardly. Flintfire looked uncomfortable.

"You kill innocent cats?" blurted out Ryepaw.

"N-no!" Flintfire stammered, backing away, ears flat. "No I don't. They're just traitors. You don't know what it's like living under Foxstar. It's horrible. We have to obey his every command, otherwise we die."

Sharpstar stepped forward, eyes narrowed. "And you are?"

"Flintfire," Flintfire said quietly. Onyxshade felt a rage bubble within him. Was SkyClan really believing his story?

Sharpstar's gaze softened. "Would you like to join SkyClan?"

Flintfire pressed up against the wall, his once supercilious-looking face showing fear and tiredness. Onyxshade took a deep breath and felt his anger begin to fade. _Stop it. He's probably just faking it._

"I-If you let me, sure," Flintfire stammered. Sharpstar nodded, and SkyClan was quiet. The entire alleyway was quiet.

* * *

><p>Flintfire and Grasshawk had a tough time fitting into the rest of SkyClan, unlike Onyxshade and his friends. The two former FoxClan warriors were so skinny that they had problems finishing a whole shrew. They were, though, still fast on their feet.<p>

Flintfire had seemed to change a lot. First, he wasn't as arrogant as before, and walked around with an air of careful humbleness. Onyxshade could tell that whenever he was talking, he chose his words carefully and thought before he said.

_He might not be so bad,_ Onyxshade thought.

* * *

><p><strong>If you have any ideas of pairings, please say it in the reviews! It doesn't mean that I will accept it, and please do not be offended if I don't. I just want to hear your thoughts. Can be from any Clan, but please don't make it a random she-cat out of the blue. Thanks! Keep the reviews going! ^^<strong>

** ~Silentecho**


	33. The Pool of Destinies

"Um Billystorm? Can I join a patrol?" Flintfire asked with a tentative voice.

"Sure," Billystorm meowed. "Why don't you join Macfoot's patrol?"

"Thanks," Flintfire replied, pulling on a relieved face. He walked over to the light cream tom.

He knew he was faking the timidness. Onyxshade probably knew, too. _All the better. I'll just need to gather enough information to tip off Foxstar and then SkyClan will be demolished._

"Everyone ready to head out?" Macfoot's gaze swept the patrol, which consisted of him, Flintfire, Stormrush, Waspwhisker, Tinycloud, Egg, Buzzardflight, and Harveymoon.

"All right then…" Macfoot turned and lead them up the slope. Other patrols were fanning out, too; Flintfire saw Cloudrye, Ducktail, and Birdwing heading in the opposite way. Flintfire felt a twinge as he saw his brother talking and laughing with Ducktail.

"Are you okay, Flintfire?" asked Stormrush quietly, matching his pace.

"Huh? Oh, yeah…" he stammered. "Sorry."

"No, it's nothing," Stormrush meowed, looking startled at his humble demeanor. She brushed her tail tip along his shoulder, and jerked her head. "Let's catch up to the others, shall we?"

Flintfire nodded vigorously, and they sped up. Harveymoon and Waspwhisker were talking quietly up ahead, while Macfoot sniffed around. The others chatted quietly with each other.

"I have a feeling the rouges are not entirely gone," he meowed. "Not all of them, at least."

"How do you know that?" asked Waspwhisker.

"There's a faint smell of them here," Macfoot meowed, indicating a tree with his tail. "I think they've been here yesterday. Let's look around for evidence."

The patrol sniffed around. Flintfire poked his head into the bushes. A bundle of feathers caught his eye, and he reached for it. It was bulky and lumpy; it was a bird.

"Hey!" he meowed. "I found a bird."

The patrol closed in. Harveymoon stretched forward and sniffed it cautiously.

"Yup, that's BloodClan scent," he confirmed, wrinkling his nose.

Macfoot nodded. "Good job, Flintfire."

_This is just like old times. _Flintfire suddenly felt a warm glow at Macfoot's praise. He flattened his ears in humbleness and mumbled a "thank you."

"Should we report this to Sharpstar?" asked Stormrush.

_Not yet, you mouse-brain,_ Flintfire thought, then instantly regretted it.

"Let's go look around ourselves," Macfoot meowed, matching Flintfire's thoughts. "I want you to separate. Buzzardflight, Waspwhisker, Egg, head east. Harveymoon, Tinycloud, and I will head north, Flintfire and Stormrush head west. Move out! Meet here when you are done!"

"Okay, let's go," Stormrush meowed, sounding nervous.

Flintfire nodded mutely and walked west. _Should I tell the BloodClan warriors, if we find them, about SkyClan? _

No, it would betraying SkyClan, another voice said in his head.

_What do you care about SkyClan? _Asked his thoughts. _You barely know them._

That's true, the other voice said, but you know you like them way more than you do ShadowClan.

Flintfire couldn't argue with that. All the SkyClan warriors, though wary of him (it was normal, he guessed, as he heard of what they had been through), started to warm up to him on the very first few days. A half moon into the Clan, and he'd never felt more at home. Even his brother was here.

"Flintfire, you keep staring into the forest," Stormrush meowed, looking at him with a concerned look. "Are you okay?"

Flintfire jerked away from his thoughts. "Yeah. Sorry."

"You don't need to be," Stormrush replied briskly.

The two walked on in silence. Flintfire sniffed around, but there seemed to be no—

"BloodClan cats!" Stormrush meowed suddenly. Flintfire stopped abruptly. Stormrush seized him by the shoulders and pushed both of them into bushes.

The two watched as three rouges walked by.

"I thought I smelled those SkyClan warriors," meowed Stick.

"Whatever," growled Coal. "We can catch our own food."

"We don't need those stupid warriors," Shorty added. "We're our own warriors, Stick."

"Yeah, we're BloodClan warriors," Coal agreed. "Come on, Stick. They have their own destiny to deal with. Let's just stop the prey stealing. We're not eating it, anyways."

The three rouges walked away.

"I'm glad that's over," Stormrush breathed. "Now, let's go help your Clan."

* * *

><p>Now that the battle with BloodClan was officially over, the SkyClan warriors had something else: FoxClan.<p>

"Are they like BloodClan?" Sharpstar asked Onyxshade one day.

"Kind of," Onyxshade replied, "but more sophisticated, like SkyClan. They're a formal Clan. Some warriors are just acting out of cowardness and they don't want to be killed. Others honor Foxstar's ideas."

Sharpstar narrowed his eyes. "This is going to be the toughest challenge for SkyClan yet."

"I know, I'm sorry," Onyxshade meowed.

"I guess other Clans' destinies are tied into ours," Sharpstar meowed. He looked around. "Where's Eaglepaw?"

"Here." Eaglepaw appeared at Onyxshade's side. "What's up?"

"I want you and Onyxshade to go to Rocky," Sharpstar meowed. "See what his advice is." Leaning in, he whispered something in Eaglepaw's ears. Eaglepaw nodded.

Eaglepaw gestured to Onyxshade. "Come on."

"Where are we going?" asked Onyxshade as he caught up with Eaglepaw.

"Do you know Rocky the Eagle?" asked Eaglepaw.

Onyxshade nodded.

"Usually, when we go into big decisions like this, we ask Rocky what he thinks," Eaglepaw explained. "He doesn't give us an answer all the time, but it's nice to just ask."

"Is that why you're called Eaglepaw?" asked Flintfire. "You are the one who brings messages to Rocky?"

Eaglepaw nodded. "There are many ambassador animals out there; you know Rocky the Eagle, and probably Midnight the Badger. There's a squirrel named Akron, a blue jay named Swift, and a fox named Alastor. Honestly, I don't know how Akron can survive for so long without getting eaten. Rocky is the only one who I know has a partner ambassador, besides Swift the Bluejay. I'm Rocky's partner, of course. Partner ambassadors are messagers who decifer some of the unusual things ambassador animals say. They usually speak in riddles or unclearly. We're named either after the type of animal or the name. The first ambassador partner was Rock, this hairless cat. He's gone now, of course.

"Do you know Jayfeather? He was Swift's ambassador partner. He was already a medicine cat, so he's pretty tight with everything going on. Ambassador partners are picked by the ambassador animal after the previous one passes away."

"So who's Swift's partner now?" asked Onyxshade. Eaglepaw shrugged.

"We're not supposed to ask."

* * *

><p>Rocky's Flock consisted of only twelve eagles and himself. Still, that many fierce, predatory birds staring down at Onyxshade was enough to make him want to run away. Eaglepaw marched into the gully confidently, and Onyxshade flattened his ears as the glares of all of the Flock turned on him.<p>

As he looked around, he realized it wasn't much different from Clan life; Eagles flew in from different places, bringing in freshly killed food. They fed it to their young and the elders, who rested on a broad branch. Chicks squeaked and flew around, while some mentor eagles were teaching the young ones how to fly.

Rocky flew down from the highest perch, and landed in front of them. "Ah, Eaglepaw. And Onyxshade, I believe?"

Onyxshade nodded.

"What is it that you want from me?" Rocky asked patiently, but his glare made Onyxshade flinch.

"We want to talk," Eaglepaw announced.

"About FoxClan," Rocky immediately predicted, and Eaglepaw nodded.

Rocky gestured to a large cave in the back of the rock wall with a huge wing. "Into the lair then, my friends. After you."

"Thanks." Eaglepaw dipped his head and padded forward into the cave, the darkness engulfing him. Onyxshade gulped and headed after him. He could hear Rocky gliding overhead, and the large eagle disappeared deep into the cave.

Onyxshade continued along a dark passageway. The cave smelled strongly of stone, water, and moss, and there was no light. He shivered at the slight chill. Strange rocks along the walls glinted, showing off a white glare. Onyxshade didn't dare touch it. Whispers seemed to echo along the walls, and there was the sound of rushing water nearby.

The passage began to slope downwards; Onyxshade's steps became more tentative. He couldn't hear Eaglepaw or Rocky, and their scents were blended in with the cave's smell. The shallow puddles splashed beneath his paws, soaking his leg fur with tiny drops of water. He winced at the wetness, but pushed forward.

His pawsteps echoed along the walls, blending into the ominous whispers. As he walked deeper and deeper, the whispers seemed to get clearer.

_Fox…_ something murmured.

_Darkness…_ said another

_Perish…_

_Hawk….. fury…._

The prophecy, he realized, stopping dead in his tracks.

_Look to the sky, _a voice whispered directly into his ear. He shivered, brushing off the sound, and pushed onward.

The passage way lit up at the end, and suddenly, there was a huge white rock thing blocking his path. Onyxshade, heart pounding, peered over the edge of the cliff.

There were many more of these glistening, shining, white rocks. They varied in size and were hanging off the walls…no, _growing_ off the walls. The big ones stretched from the top wall to the ground, like huge tree trunks. Two of them stretched from opposite sides of the top wall to the opposite side of the ground [forming an X]. On the ground, there was a twisted path that lead to a glistening pool almost as beautiful as the Moonpool. Two shapes sat at the edge; Eaglepaw and Rocky.

Onyxshade jumped from white rock to white rock, making his way to the ground. He wove around the two giant rocks and made his way to his two companions.

"Onyxshade," Rocky greeted without turning around. "We've been waiting."

"So I've noticed," Onyxshade replied, padding over to sit by the large eagle. Eaglepaw and Rocky were both staring into the water.

Rocky looked up suddenly and gestured to the surrounding with his extra large wing. "Welcome to the Crystalpool."

"What are crystals?" asked Onyxshade curiously.

Rocky gestured carelessly to the various white rocks. "These. They have been here longer than StarClan."

"Is this where the medicine cats interact with StarClan?" asked Onyxshade. _If it is, then it's awesome. I haven't been medicine cat for so long._

Rocky nodded. "Frecklewish is not here right now. They are only to visit the Crystalpool during the half-moon."

_Wow…it must be lonely here, having the crystals as the only company. _

Rocky gestured again to the pool. "Look into it…what do you see?"

Onyxshade carefully peered into the water. Nothing.

"Ah, sorry," Rocky cawed, and touched the surface lightly with his wing, sending ripples through the clear water. In the ripples, scenes showed:

He was standing in the middle of ShadowClan camp, with all the SkyClan warriors at his side. Foxstar and his warriors faced them, teeth bared, claws unsheathed, ready for battle.

The scene faded, only to be replaced by another:

Onyxshade was fighting Hawksplash. Suddenly, the tabby tom knocked him sideways and everything went faded at once. Only the bottom of the pool showed, the peaceful water looking as if it had never showed anything violent.

Rocky spread his wings and gazed up. "This is the Pool of Destines, in the Cave of the Ancestors."

"Wait….but I saw something," Onyxshade began, "then it all faded out."

Rocky shook his head. "Your destiny is not completely shown." The eagle's eyes betrayed him, but Onyxshade kept quiet.

* * *

><p>Eaglepaw and Onyxshade returned to SkyClan camp. Rocky hadn't given them a clear answer, and not even Eaglepaw could figure out what the eagle was trying to convey.<p>

"He said the journey you walk is your choice," Eaglepaw meowed as they passed Flintfire and Cloudrye talking.

"That's not even a real answer," Onyxshade said.

They discussed the meeting with Rocky with Sharpstar and Billystorm.

"The journey you walk is your choice," Sharpstar murmured. He glared directly at Onyxshade. "We will help you. You have helped us, and we shall return the favor." He stood up. "I'll call the Clan and we will leave tomorrow. Let's get your home back."

* * *

><p>Onyxshade tiredly settled down into his nest. Jumpingtail and Dawnclaw and already fallen asleep, and Cloudrye was on moonhigh patrol with Ducktail and Grasshawk.<p>

"Hello, Onyxshade," a voice meowed. He opened his eyes to find himself standing in front of the Crystalpool. A tortoiseshell she-cat was looking warmly at him. Beside her was a gray-and-white tom.

"StarClan?" Onyxshade asked, dipping his head.

The tortoiseshell nodded. "I am Leafstar, the first leader of modern SkyClan. This is Cloudstar."

"Hello," Onyxshade meowed nervously. "Have you come to tell me something."

"The prophecy," Cloudstar rumbled. "Remember the prophecy."

"Right," Onyxshade mumbled. "_The fox of stars will be crushed under the strength of the rock and the boulder of the night will perish by the fury of the hawk. Look to the sky for help…_"

"That's right," Leafstar meowed. "Do not forget it, night cat."

"Night cat?" Onyxshade asked in confusion.

"Onyx," Leafstar murmured. "You were named for the darkness that resides in all of us."

Onyxshade shivered, confused. "I don't get it."

"You will," Cloudstar interjected. "You will…"


	34. Scouting Ahead

"Cloudrye?" Flintfire padded up to his brother.

"What?" snapped the white tom impatiently.

Flintfire sighed and sat down. "Sorry."

"About what?" Cloudrye looked hurt and angry. "There's nothing to apologize, Flintfire. What's done is done. I'll never forgive you."

_I don't really care,_ a voice at the back of Flintfire's thoughts replied, but deep down Flintfire felt his heart drop. Cloudrye wasn't going to forgive him?

"Well, I know," he forced out stiffly, "and I just want you to know that…I'm sorry. Truly and sincerely."

Cloudrye was silent, his gaze hard on the creek that flowed in SkyClan camp. Flintfire was thrown into the memory of when he had first trained with Foxstar, the russet warrior's gaze hard on the lake. Flintfire shivered. He stood up to leave.

"Why did you do it?"

"Huh?" he turned around. Cloudrye had obviously spoken, but the white tom was still focused on the creek.

"Why did you have to kill our parents?"

_Do you really have to make it sound like that?_ Flintfire winced before he began. "I…I don't know what had overcome me. I saw Onyxshade talking to Whitestag, and Whitestag was mad at _me._ I guess I was just jealous that he was talking to someone who wasn't even family and treating him as if he was, and that he was ignoring his own kit."

"Oh," Cloudrye meowed flatly after a while. "Well…" he stood up. "I'd best be going. You too. SkyClan needs us." He padded away, leaving Flintfire alone in the middle of the camp.

They weren't any different as two cats from two entirely different families. No one would've thought they were brothers.

* * *

><p>"Warriors of SkyClan!" Sharpstar's voice rang throughout the gorge. "We move to FoxClan today!"<p>

Approving yowls rippled the Clan. Onyxshade yowled right alongside them. Sharpstar jumped down from the Rockpile and strode forward. The Clan followed him willingly.

"Hello," a quiet voice meowed behind Onyxshade. He turned. It was Flintfire.

"Hey," he replied stiffly.

Flintfire caught up with Onyxshade, who moved aside a little. "I feel really bad about everything."

_Oh, so now you realize._ "Well… Foxstar had it coming, didn't he." It wasn't a question.

Flintfire shrugged. "I guess. SkyClan's pretty sweet."

Onyxshade wrinkled his nose at the deliberate change of subject. "Yeah…"

"Do you think they're as good as ShadowClan?"

"SkyClan is a great Clan, and it's been better than ShadowClan ever has. But ShadowClan will always be my home."

Flintfire nodded slowly. "Yeah, me too."

Onyxshade narrowed his eyes. _What is he playing at?_ "So, um, why did you run away?"

Flintfire shrugged. "I guess I was thinking the same way as you. Foxstar's a horrible leader."

Onyxshade nodded. _First time we agree on something._

"Who knows this part of the woods?" Sharpstar's voice cut through their conversation. The Clan had stopped, and Onyxshade and Flintfire were a few tail-lengths ahead.

There was a moment's hesitation, then—

"I do," Flintfire meowed from beside Onyxshade. "Do you uh, want me scout ahead?"

"That would be best," Sharpstar replied.

"Can I take someone with me?"

"Yes. Take Grasshawk with you. We'll catch some prey and rest here."

_Oh, no. _Onyxshade watched, worried, as the skinny gray tom padded forward cautiously and stood face-to-face with Flintfire. The two glared at each other for a moment, then seemed to simultaneously realize there were others. They both dipped their heads to Sharpstar and pelted on ahead.

* * *

><p>Grasshawk raced beside Flintfire. He still didn't trust the dirty cream-and-white tom; there was an aura that surrounded him much like Foxstar's, and it hadn't faded. Though he seemed to be acting innocent and humble, Grasshawk hadn't lowered his guard at all. He had suspected Flintfire to follow him since the almost-murder.<p>

He was brought back to the time they had first met in ThunderClan camp. Flintfire had told him that ShadowClan sucked, that it was horrible with Foxstar. Now, he seemed to be one of the top warriors there.

_Do we really change that much over such a short period of time?_ Grasshawk thought.

Suddenly, a blow landed on the back of his head, knocking him down. A strong paw pinned him down at the throat.

He heard Flintfire's laughter. "Think you can trust me?" he whispered hoarsely.

"I never trusted you, ShadowClan scum!" Grasshawk snarled. Remembering his moves, He twisted around and swiped at Flintfire's muzzle. The cream-and-white tom loosened his grip as he recoiled, and Grasshawk pushed upwards, flipping Flintfire off.

Flintfire recovered quickly. He jumped up and leapt at Grasshawk faster than a mouse, and bowled him over. Grasshawk clawed at Flintfire's back, and threw him off.

Flintfire growled. Grasshawk beared himself for the worst; he didn't have any energy left. _All right, StarClan. I might've dodged you once, but now it's time—_

Flintfire's claws stopped a fur-length from Grasshawk's face. They glinted in the sun, reflecting the light and making Grasshawk flinch away. Flintfire, trembling, stepped back, shaking his head.

"No," he murmured. "After all this time… I still can't… go… before I…"

Grasshawk couldn't move. He was completely out of energy, and Flintfire was standing just a few tail-lengths away.

"For StarClan's sake, just end it now!" Grasshawk snarled impatiently.

Flintfire backed away, shaking his head madly. He glared at Grasshawk. "I may not be able to kill you, but I can get others that will." And he raced in the opposite direction, away from SkyClan.

* * *

><p>"I can't wait to get my home back," muttered Cloudrye beside Onyxshade.<p>

"Who'll be the leader?" wondered Jumpingtail from Onyxshade's other side.

"Aspenheart," Dawnclaw meowed at once.

"Aspenheart's too old," Onyxshade pointed out. "He told me he was planning to be an elder moons ago, but Foxstar wouldn't let him."

"That's really sad," Jumpingtail sympathized. "I think he served well enough. He deserves a rest."

"Yeah, wonder how the rest of the Clans are doing," Dawnclaw meowed. They trudged slowly at the back of the group.

"Shouldn't Flintfire and Grasshawk be back by now?" questioned Cloudrye suddenly.

"Hold it!" Billystorm's unusually calm voice was sharp. The Clan stopped abruptly, and Onyxshade almost crashed into Harrypelt.

"What's going on?" asked Shrewtooth from somewhere in the crowd.

"It's Grasshawk," came Billystorm's voice from the front. He sounded confused and worried. Onyxshade exchanged a glance with Jumpingtail and the four cats pushed their way to the front.

The gray tom was lying on his side with multiple gashes. His breathing was shallow, and his eyes were closed.

"Grasshawk!" Ducktail called out softly.

Frecklewish stepped forward from the crowd, and Onyxshade and Jumpingtail followed. "He's hurt. Grasshawk? Who did this?"

Grasshawk's eyes fluttered open. "Water…"

Furzepaw and Ryepaw rushed forward with a wet moss. Frecklewish expertly squeezed the water into Grasshawk's mouth. The gray tom swallowed, then took a breath.

"Flintfire… tried to kill me… didn't have the heart… raced away… warning… the…rest…of them…"

Too late, Onyxshade realized what Flintfire was up to. _That mangle-pelt! He was a traitor all along!_


	35. The Final Battle

Hawksplash paced the ShadowClan camp impatiently. _Come on, someone escape or something. I want to kill!_

Since many cats had escaped and then had been caught, many of the other warriors seemed to scared to run. The Darkness warriors now paced around, having nothing to do. There were no borders to patrol and occasionally, cats from former rival Clans tussled each other. Hawksplash had nearly killed a ThunderClan warrior in a minor fight yesterday. If it wasn't for the warrior's _mom_ dragging him off, he would've.

_What a kit. He still needs his mother to save him. My mom died already. I'm glad. _

Four moons ago, Onyxshade and his cronies had gone. Hawksplash had always hated the black tom; arrogant, stuck-up, and just rude. Not like he was himself, but seeing that in others just fired him up. Then, Onyxshade had made that trip to the Moonpool, taking Flintfire with him. What they were doing there, he didn't know. But he swore he saw the former medicine cat, Snowfreckle, at the Moonpool. _I thought she was dead!_

Flintfire had disappeared two moons ago. He'd never liked the cream-and-white tom, but always respected his skill and wits in battle. Flintfire's disappearance was a mystery, as he was a top warrior in the Darkness group. _Maybe he was a traitor all along. I hope he's dead and he's never returning._

As if on cue, Flintfire raced into camp. Beside Hawksplash, Raggedlion snarled.

"What are you doing here! I thought I told you not to come back!"

"Onyxshade…" Flintfire panted, "coming… rebelling… reinforcements…"

Raggedlion and Hawksplash were instantly alert.

_Where did that mangle-pelt get reinforcements? There's no one around! _Thought Hawksplash in alarm.

"What reinforcements?" he asked sharply.

"SkyClan."

* * *

><p>The night was as black as Onyxshade's pelt. Foxstar was waiting for them on the top of the WindClan moor. His fiery gaze burned with an intense hatred, and Onyxshade wanted to shrink away. The russet warrior's glare swept SkyClan, and many warriors flattened their ears. Sharpstar stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Foxstar and met his proud gaze evenly.<p>

"So you are the infamous Foxstar," the ginger warrior meowed.

"So I am," Foxstar murmured, and once again, it was silent. Onyxshade could hear every word Foxstar was saying. Even SkyClan dared to stay quiet. "And what is it you want to…propose?"

Sharpstar flicked his tail towards Onyxshade and his gang. "This lot tells me that you have forced every Clan to join yours. You have taken away the warrior code, their home, their leader, and everything they've fought for. That, I believe, is not the will of StarClan."

For a moment, Foxstar looked past Sharpstar towards Onyxshade. He struggled not to turn tail and run the opposite direction as Foxstar narrowed his eyes. Yet, the fire never left his eyes.

Then, the russet warrior turned back to Sharpstar. "Why are you here?"

Sharpstar suddenly lashed out, catching Foxstar on the muzzle, something Onyxshade had seen no cat accomplish.

"We are here to defend the warrior code!" the ginger tom yowled. "SkyClan, attack!"

The moor exploded with the battle cries of cats.

* * *

><p>Flintfire found himself fighting alongside Hawksplash, the cat he least liked. They easily took down four FoxClan warriors together and pushed through the mass of fighting cats. The noise was thunderous, and Flintfire knew StarClan was cringing from above, it was so loud.<p>

Suddenly, a shadow moved at the edge of Flintfire's vision. He stretched out a paw and caught… fur. It was a warrior! Hooking his paw under him, he slammed the cat down. He caught the gleam of yellow eyes…

"Onyxshade," Flintfire growled.

Onyxshade writhed under Flintfire, who wouldn't let go, letting his claws sink deeper and deeper. For his entire life Onyxshade had been nothing but a nuisance; whenever he saw the black tom his nerves fired up. _I'm going to kill him. I'm going to get rid of him forever. _

"Are you really going to do this?" Onyxshade panted.

"Oh, yes," snarled Flintfire.

"After everything you've been taught? Cloudrye never forgave you for killing your parents… and now, you are going to kill me? Haven't you learned anything? Where is your heart, Flintfire? Your courage?" whispered Onyxshade. His eyes were starting to roll to the back of his head, his eyelids fluttering shut.

"Flintfire?" whispered a voice. Flintfire looked up to see a white pelt glowing in the dark. Cloudrye. Beside Cloudrye was a gray-and-ginger she-cat. Stormrush!

Both of them were staring at Flintfire with hurt and disbelief in their eyes.

"Flintfire… you apologized," whispered Cloudrye, appalled.

"I believed in you, Flintfire!" Stormrush cried. Her voice sounded close to breaking, and Flintfire's heart melted.

With a single move, he released Onyxshade. The black tom scrambled up, coughing.

"Oh for the Forest's sake!" snarled a voice behind them, and Hawksplash sprang from the battle and knocked Onyxshade aside, slicing open his throat, his eyes wild with fury.

"No!" Flintfire cried. A sudden rage boiled within him. He'd only just realized how much Onyxshade had taught him. How much the black tom meant as a friend to him…

Eyes blind with anger, Flintfire jumped on top of Hawksplash, swiping and clawing at him like a rouge. Hawksplash whimpered as Flintfire rained blows on him and he collapsed, never to move again.

"Onyxshade!" Flintfire rushed over to the dying warrior.

"Good…heart…Flintfire…" Onyxshade gasped. "Look…to…the sky…" his eyes fluttered shut and he didn't move again. Flintfire sobbed. Cloudrye and Stormrush pressed against him.

Rain began to pelt down onto them, hard. Flintfire kicked Hawksplash's body away and dragged Onyxshade's under a bush with the help of Cloudrye and Stormrush. By the looks of it, FoxClan was winning. Ducktail fell at the paws of Foamwhisker and a WindClan tom. Bouncefire yowled and pelted away as Raggedlion screeched manically after him.

"We're losing!" Ryepaw panted. "There's no way out! We're going to die!"

_Look to the sky._ Onyxshade's last words…

"Look to the sky," Flintfire murmured. "The eagles! Of course!"

Everyone in SkyClan knew about the eagles. They were fierce warriors.

"Eaglepaw!" Stormrush called out, and the brown tom leapt out from battle, his body scarred and bleeding.

"What?"

"Call the eagles!" Stormrush whispered, her eyes bright. "They might be our only chance to win."

Eaglepaw nodded, and closed his eyes. A moment later, there were the beatings of several wings in the air. Flintfire looked into the sky. Several dark shapes were swooping down, their yellow eyes gleaming and their sharp beaks clicking.

"CrystalFlock, attack!" Rocky screeched. The eagles dived and started to attack the FoxClan warriors, who screeched and started to retreat.

"No!" cried Foxstar's voice, louder than he had ever spoken before. "HOLD YOUR RANKS!"

At this, the FoxClan warriors stopped running and began to fight back, pushing forward.

"Break up the wall!" Billystorm cried. "Don't let them push you!"

Flintfire raced at the advancing WindClan wall and broke through, causing many warriors to stumble. The wall was collapsing. Leading the wall was none other than Adderface, the former leader.

"Don't!" cried the mottled tom suddenly. "We'll—"

"Adder_star_," Flintfire growled, shoving his face into the former leader's, "you are the leader of WindClan. Battles are inevitable. You cannot keep retreating. Will you fight?"

Adderface took a breath. "If I have to, to save my warriors."

Flintfire shook his head. "You have to fight to save the warrior code, not just your warriors' lives. These FoxClan cats aim to destroy everything we've done." _And I've helped them._ His heart twisted in regret, but he pushed on. "Are you going to let them stand in our way?"

"No," growled Adderface.

"Adderface—" a warrior called out. "There's no chance—"

"It's Adderstar," growled Adderstar. "And we will fight for our lives! We will defend this Clan until we _die_!"

The warriors yowled in approval.

"WindClan down!" Flintfire called out.

"ThunderClan down!" called out Shrewtooth's voice. Flintfire knew that ThunderClan had probably changed sides, too.

A moment later, then—

"RiverClan down!"

That left the ShadowClan wall, most likely led by Foxstar. How were they going to defeat the russet warrior?

Flintfire raced towards the loudest yowls, which were probably where the ShadowClan wall was. Sure enough, there it was, with Foxstar up ahead, dueling with Sharpstar and Billystorm.

A huge swipe of Foxstar's paw sent Sharpstar flying. Billystorm growled and raced after his leader. Foxstar kept advancing, with his warriors in tow. Harveymoon darted in front of the SkyClan warriors and swiped at Foxstar, but he was obviously losing to the quicker and more agile reddish tom.

Foxstar seemed to see everywhere; Egg came up on his side but he immediately knocked the cream warrior down.

"One thing," Foxstar growled, "that foxes don't have that I'm blessed with—" he threw Loudwhisper aside—"is excellent sight!"

_Great. How are we supposed to defeat him now?_ Flintfire thought bitterly. As if on cue, Rocky swooped down, talons outstretched, claws gleaming in the moonlight.

Foxstar didn't recoil. "Rocky!" he snarled.

_They know each other?_

"Your time is up," Rocky screeched. With a single swipe, he plucked out Foxstar's eyes.

"I can't see!" wailed Foxstar, and he began clawing and swiping blindly.

Harveymoon tumbled aside as Foxstar sent him flying with a single strike. The others backed away warily. Sharpstar and Billystorm were nowhere to be seen.

_It's now or never. This is for you, Onyxshade! For Whitestag and Silverbriar! For Sootfang! For everyone that died because of this mangle-pelt!_ Flintfire leapt onto Foxstar as everyone retreated back. The entire group gasped. Suddenly, all fighting ceased as all the warriors stopped to witness the duel.

"I can still smell you!" growled Foxstar. Flintfire darted here and there, catching Foxstar off guard.

"Rocky is right. Your time is up," growled Flintfire. "Go rot in the Dark Forest!"

Foxstar grinned despite the blood running from his empty eye sockets. "Not before you rot first!"

Flintfire was knocked to the ground. Foxstar snarled and leapt in his direction. _StarClan, he can smell as good as he can see!_ Feebly, Flintfire stretched his claws out… just as Foxstar reached him. His claws sank into the russet warrior's neck.

Howling, Foxstar retreated, neck bleeding more than his eyes. Flintfire scrambled up and watched, horror-struck, as Foxstar finally collapsed.

"He's only on his fifth life," whispered a Darkness warrior.

But Foxstar didn't move. He twitched once…

_Four lives left._

Twice.

_Three lives left._

Three times.

_Two lives left._

Four times.

_Only one…_

Five.

_He's dead._


	36. Epilogue

Flintstar sat upon the Tall Oak, looking down upon ShadowClan, his Clan. It had been two moons since Foxstar's defeat. All the warriors had nominated Flintstar as leader of ShadowClan, and he was too polite to decline.

He had many sins to make up for, and many cats to apologize to. Tigerthorn, after a long talk, was his friend again, and deputy; he had given Shrewpaw, a kit who had been born to Owlshadow and Sunfury while he was away, to Tigerthorn. He would have to find himself an apprentice later. He and Stormrush had three kits: Foxkit (Jumpingtail the medicine cat had a prophecy where Flintstar had a kit named Foxkit; thus, Flintstar had named Foxkit just that, despite his hatred of foxes), Boulderkit, after Onyxshade, and Sharpkit, after Sharpstar.

_The fox of stars will be crushed under the strength of the rock._ That was him, Flintstar, who crushed Foxstar.

_The boulder of the night will perish under the fury of the hawk._ Hawksplash had, indeed, killed Onyxshade, who was named after the "night rock."

_Look to the sky for help._ He couldn't have defeated Foxstar without the eagles' help. Rocky had plucked out Foxstar's eyes, which ultimately weakened him.

He missed everyone. He gained a Clan, but he lost Onyxshade, Cloudrye, and many others.

The Darkness had dispersed. Raggedlion, Wolftail, Jaggedleaf, and many top warriors had fled and become rouges. Flintstar had let them go. Others, he gave a second chance, and they seemed to be doing well. They respected and loved him like a leader, and ShadowClan was back to its normal self.

Which meant there were four Clans again, and Gatherings at the island.

The four Clans had generously offered a piece of territory for SkyClan, but they had declined and returned to the gorge. Although Flintstar missed it terribly, ShadowClan would always be his home, like Onyxshade said. He had made up with Cloudrye, but the white tom had chosen to go with SkyClan. Grasshawk had also gone with them.

Flintstar sighed as he gazed upon his Clan. Foxstar was gone, and there was peace once more among the Clans. The war was finally over.

* * *

><p><strong> Yes, there will be a sequel! Stay tuned for more Flintstar! ^^ Thank you for all the reviews!<strong>

** ~Silentecho**


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